SUstuck (Discontinued)
by Liokka-Millie
Summary: My first ever fanfic, an X-over based off of Ikimaru's SUstuck. Not sure if it'll need the T rating, but putting it there for safety.
1. Introductions

**Hello there! Quick (Or not so quick) Author's note here :3**  
 **This is my first ever fanfic, so I apologize if any one is OOC. (I have only ever written OC's before) Also, if you would, please leave a review/critique! I'm always looking to improve my writing. If you have any questions, just ask 'em and I'll try to answer it in the next chapter~ Also, I lay no claim to the idea for a Steven Universe Homestuck x-over. The idea came from Ikimaru on Tumblr (AKA Drunk rose district, can't figure out how to link it here  
** **3: )** **, and I decided to write some fanfic for it. That being said, if she wants me to take this down, I will. This x-over will certainly heavily draw from her art, but I'll probably take a few liberties. (also, sorry about how short this chapter is; I'll try and make the next one longer!)  
Also, currently it's mostly fluff, but I do plan on adding some suspense and adventure later :3 Right now's it's just laying the beginning down~**

 **Ars3nicCatnip, out! *Ollies outie***  
 **Disclaimer; I do not own Homestuck or Steven Universe. Credit for the crossover idea goes to Ikimaru**

* * *

John sighed. The Gems had left about three hours ago, and they still hadn't returned.  
The first hour or so had been alright; He had wandered around his home, practicing his Trickster's Gambit, reading out of his Abridged Sassacre's and raiding the fridge (Avoiding any and all Betty Crocker items). But then time had started to drag, and he had anxiously awaited the return of his family members. It _never_ took them this long. He huffed another sigh and slid down off the black living room couch, coming to a rest with his head on the seat.  
He took a long look around the room; There was the small T.V, with its cabinet of old movies below it. John smiled at the memories of watching them with his family. Emerald loved all sorts of old movies, and was constantly bringing more home. And there was Rubellite's book shelf, filled with books about wizards, plus her half filled note books with more wizard stories she had written herself.  
John lifted his head up as he heard the front door open. He heard familiar voices, and a fluffy, rose colored cat pelted into the room. It leapt into his lap and nuzzled its furry cheek against his chin. "We are _sooo_ sorry for being so long!" It purred, climbing up onto John's shoulder.  
"The monster we were fighting turned out to be a lot more powerful than we anticipated." It gave John another rub before jumping up onto the couch. A bright, white light engulfed it as two male figures walked into the room. One of them, a young man wearing black shades, was holding a gold tinted bubble with a nearly cloven blue-green gem inside.  
"It didn't take _that_ long." The other one chimed, rolling green eyes behind half moon spectacles. "It took _three hours_ Emerald." The one carrying the bubble said. With a swift downward flick of his hand, the bubble disappeared.  
"Oh. Wow." John looked back up at the cat, who at this point had shape-shifted into a young woman with short, curled, rosy pink hair, and a deep pink stone on the back of her right hand. She smiled and ruffled John's short black hair. "I hope you weren't too worried." She said, resting her face in her hand. "Nah, nothing worries John!" Emerald said, plopping down on the floor next to John. He ruffled the young boy's hair, earning him a small smile.  
"I wasn't too worried." John said, reaching over and giving Emerald a hug. "What, no hug for me?" The woman said, looking sad.  
"Of course you get a hug Rubellite" John tugged her over, embracing them both. "Heeeey, Topaz, get over here! Family hug!" Rubellite said, holding out her free hand. "I've got sensors to fix." Topaz stated, turning back towards the door. "John, did you finish your homework?" He asked, turning his head back. "I got it done this morning Topaz." While John didn't go to a public school, the Gems still gave him homework to do. With a nod, Topaz walked down the hall and left the building. "Topaz and his robots." Rubellite said, leaning back on the couch. She clicked her tongue and shook her head.  
"But without Topaz's 'bots, you'd never know when a monster was around!" John said, looking up at the pink gem. "Well then we'd just go back to patrolling." Emerald said. "And have no time for those lame movies you love." Rubellite said, a teasing tone to her voice.  
"Hey! Those movies are awesome and you know it!" Emerald stated, adjusting his glasses. "Yeah!" John added. "They're also cheesy." "No they aren't!" "Yes they are." "No way!" "Ye- Hey, where's Frigglish?" Rubellite asked, looking around for the grey cat.  
"I think he's outside." John said. The last time he had seen the cat was this morning, before the gems had left. "He's probably down at that girl's house. What was her name? Ruse?" Emerald asked, standing up. "I think it's Rose." "Ah. I'm sure he just meandered down there to say hi. John, why don't we go see if Topaz needs any help?" "Yeah!"

"Emerald tapped a few times in succession on the door to Topaz's workshop. With any luck, the blond gem would hear them over the rap music he often listened to. Topaz opened the door a few minutes later, a wrench in hand.  
"Yes?" Topaz asked, his face blank behind his black shades. "We're here to help you!" John said happily. Topaz remained silent for a moment before moving to the side and motioning for them to come in. John grinned happily and walked into the shed, closely followed by Topaz. It wasn't often he was allowed in here. Every time he'd ask, Topaz would say he was too young or that there were too many dangerous things in there. So every time he went in there it was a treat. "How's it faring?" Emerald asked, pointing at the long, staff like rod sitting on top of Topaz's main workbench. A good chunk along the top and been ripped out, exposing all the wiring and what not beneath.  
"That monster really did a number on it." Emerald continued what Topaz didn't say anything. He just sat back down and began fiddling with the sensor again. "Woah! That monster did that?!" John said, staring at the giant rip in the thick pole. "Yes. Hand me the soldering iron." Topaz said, holding a hand out. John looked around the messy table top before picking up the tool and handing it to Topaz. "Thanks" Topaz said, turning his attention back to the rod. "Were any of the other sensors damaged?" John asked after another minute of looking around. "No." "Not that we know of anyway." Emerald said, placing another tool into Topaz's other outstretched hand. "No. No others are damaged. If they were, the light on the board would have gone out." Topaz stated, not looking up. John looked around the room before spotting a metal panel that had lots of little lights in it. Out of all of them, only one was out. "Can I help you take it back?" John asked. Emerald looked up. "Sure, why no-"  
"You're not old enough." Topaz said before Emerald could finish. "Topaz, he's nearly thirteen!" Topaz looked up at Emerald. "Emphasis on nearly. That is very young for a human, and he should not be going to dangerous places." "We'd be there to protect him!" "But what if something happened? Like with this morning?" "Haven't we taken care of all the monsters in that area?! All the big ones anyway." Topaz held his nose between his fingers. "John, why don't you go see what Rubellite is doing." he said after a moment. Something in his tone told John it wouldn't be a good idea to argue, so he just nodded and left. Neither of the older gems said anything until John shut the door.

* * *

You hungry kiddo?" Rubellite asked as John walked into the kitchen, looking up from where she sat at the kitchen table. "Nah." John said, pulling a chair out and sitting down. He stretched out over the table, sighing. With a bright white flash, Rubellite morphed into a sleek pink cat and trotted over the table to sit by John's head.  
"Heeey, what's wrong kiddo?" She asked, pawing his hair. "Topaz still doesn't think I'm old enough to go with you three on missions." John sighed, tilting his head towards the cat. "What? Sure you are. And it's not like we'd take you on hard ones at first." Rubellite said, ears shoved forward. "Yeah but Topaz seems really adamant about me not going." Rubellite sat quietly for a moment. After a moment, a feline grin spread across her face.  
"Why don't we go by our selves? I know a place that's got some monsters, and they aren't all that powerful." She laughed. "I leave 'em there because they're really not a threat. But we could go there, say, next week? You could practice summoning your weapon." "Really?" John asked, perking up a little. "Yeah! Just don't tell Topaz what we're doing, alright?" Rubellite said, trotting back across the table to her seat. "Got it." Rubellite jumped off the table, gracefully landing on the floor. "I'm going to go find Frigglish; Wanna come?" She asked, looking back up at the child. "Sure. I don't have anything better to do. Except maybe read your wizard fiction." John laughed, getting up. "Hey, don't dis the wizards!"

* * *

"First stop, Rose's house!" Rubellite said, thrusting her fist in the air as the two of them walked down the street. Frigglish regularly went and visited Rose, for who knew what reason. Rose didn't mind though; She thoroughly enjoyed the cats company, and had even knitted him a sweater. "I remember the first time we found Frigglish at her house." Rubellite said, smiling.  
"She said he'd just wandered into her house, silly cat." She shook her head as she walked up the stone path to Rose Lalonde's home. John looked around the yard while Rubellite knocked on the door. It was neat and clean, with short bushes lining the walkway. After a few minutes, the door opened. "Oh hey! I figured it would be you." Rose said. She shifted to the side as Frigglish trotted out the door, purring. "I found him in the kitchen about an hour ago, silly thing." Rubellite bent down and picked the grey cat up. Frigglish purred and rubbed his chin along Rubellite's shoulder. "Thanks for watching him." She said as Frigglish climbed up and perched on her shoulder. "Anytime.  
Oh, hang on!" Rose turned around and went back into her home. She came back a minute later, holding something. "My Mom had him a suit tailored, for what ever reason." She said, rolling her eyes. "A suit?" John asked, accepting the folded fabric from Rose. "Yeah. Mom's... _eccentric."_ Rose said, shaking her head. "Well I'm sure he's going to look very cute in his new outfit. Thanks again!" Rubellite said, turning around to leave. "Bye Rose!" John waved, following the Gem and her cat.

* * *

 **Did an edit so the 1st & 2nd chapters were together~**


	2. Bad Dog!

**Disclaimer; I own neither Homestuck or Steven Universe. Idea for the Crossover came from Ikimaru :3**

* * *

Rubellite immediately put Frigglish in the suit, fussing around about 'what a dapper little fellow he was'. Frigglish was currently sitting on John's shoulders, sniffing at the fabric on his forelegs as they walked back home.  
"Should we tell Emerald about our plan for next week?" John asked, scratching the cat's paw. "Nah, he'd probably wind up telling Topaz on accident." Rubellite said, waving her hand.  
"We'll just grab him and jump on the warp." She said with a laugh. "What are we going to tell Topaz?" "We'll just tell him we're going to the park or something. Or if possible, nothing at all." "You don't think he'll find out?" "Not if we stop talking about it. Tuesday sound good?"  
"Harley!"  
"Tuesday sounds good. Early?" "Veeeery. We gotta get up before Topaz does." Frigglish hissed from John's shoulder, but neither of the two people walking down the street paid any attention to the cat.  
"Harley no!" Some one yelled just as a big white dog jumped up, throwing John to the ground. Frigglish jumped from his shoulders and pelted down the street, hissing loudly. The dog barked and ran down the street after the cat.  
"Oh my gog" Rubellite whispered, running down the street after them. "BAD DOG HARLEY!" A young girl yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth.  
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! Harley's usually such a good boy!" She said, grabbing John's hand and pulling him up.  
She made sure he was on his feet before turning around and running after the errant dog. He stood still for a moment, processing what had happened before pelting after them.  
"HARLEY!" The girl yelled again, her long black hair streaming behind her. The dog and cat were now at the end of the street, Frigglish now stuck in a big tree in someone's yard. Rubellite was nearly there, but seemed uncertain of what to do. The white dog looked away from the treed cat as the girl got near, his tail starting to wag.  
"Bad dog Harley!" The girl admonished again, grabbing the animal's leash.  
"Frigglish come down" Rubellite said, looking up at the cat. He made a mewling noise and started washing his paws.  
Rubellite sighed and shook her head before grabbing the lowest branch. She hauled herself up into the tree while Harley rared up and set his paws on the girl's shoulders.  
"Harley, no, no treats! You've been a bad doggy!" She shoved him off before quietly adding "Okay maybe one..."  
Once Harley had settled down, she turned to John and held her hand out. "Hi. I'm Jade Harley." She said, her smile revealing a few buck teeth. John took her hand and  
shook it "I'm John." He said, returning a small smile of his own.  
"Frigglish, stop iiiit!" Rubellite said, trying to calm the grey beast as she brought him down from the tree. He was trying to get as far away from the dog as possible.  
"Frriigglliiisshhh!" Rubellite complained, tightening her hold on the cat.  
"Well I'm going to take Frigglish home, before we wind up loosing him again." Harley looked up at the cat, growling a little. Jade bapped his nose, making him stop.  
"See you at home John!" Rubellite called, hefting the cat into a different position and walking back down the side walk towards home.  
"Again, I'm really sorry about Harley. Normally he just ignores cats!" Jade said as they headed back to the sidewalk.  
"It's okay. No one was hurt and we got Frigglish back. Say, I don't think I've seen you around town before?" Jade shook her head.  
"My Grandpa and I moved here just last week. Grandpa likes to travel so we don't really stick in one place for long." She said, gently tugging on Harley's leash to keep him walking. Harley trotted to catch up and sniffed John's hand. John gave the dog a quick pat.  
"I can't believe you're still so spry Harley!" Jade said, covering her mouth as she giggled. "He's older than me and he can still get around like a puppy!" She said, looking affectionately at the dog. "Woah." Jade looked to be about twelve or thirteen, and if Harley was older than her he was old for a dog his size.  
"So was that your mom? The lady with the pink hair?" Jade asked. John shook his head. "She's my aunt. Mom... passed away when I was born." John said, sticking his hands in his pockets.  
"I'm sorry John" Jade said after a moment, looking sympathetic. John shook his head again. "You didn't know."  
"I didn't really know my mom either." She said after a moment with a shrug. "She and my Dad got into a hunting accident when I was three." "Oh." "So now it's just me and Pop." Harley barked. "And you Harley." "I live with Rubellite and my two uncles. I don't really know where my dad is." John said, stopping at the place where the road to his home intersected the road where they were. "Hey, have you been to Dave's music shop yet?" "Is he the guy with the weird shades?" "Yeah! He's also the son of the Mayor." "I've only seen him on the street, but I'll be sure to stop by his place some time." Jade took a quick glance at the watch on her wrist. "Oh shoot. I've gotta head back home now, Granddad and I are doing some shooting practice at four. See you around!" Jade called, crossing the street. Harley barked, quickly following his mistress. "Bye!" John called after her, heading down his own street.

* * *

"Rubellite, why is Frigglish wearing a suit." John heard as he walked through the front door of his home. He walked into the living room to see Rubellite holding Frigglish and Emerald sitting on the couch, an old movie playing on the T.V screen.  
"Rose's mom made it!" Rubellite said with a smile, flopping on the couch. Frigglish wriggled out of her iron grip, running towards the kitchen. "Well she had someone tailor it for him." "She had someone make a suit for a cat." "Yeah!" Emerald was quiet for a moment.  
"He looks really silly." He said. "You take that back! Frigglish looks dapper!" Rubellite hollered, throwing one of the couch cushions at Emerald. Emerald ducked out of the way just as it was about to hit him. It sailed across the room to knock a framed picture off the wall with a crash. "Oh! Hey John." Emerald said, noticing the boy. "I'm afraid I didn't have any luck with Topaz." He re-adjusted his glasses. "We'll convince him some day though." John sat down on the couch between the two Gems. "Someday." "Yeah, or we'll just smuggle John out." Rubellite said, flipping around on the couch so her head was hanging off the seat. "Like we could get past Topaz." "I'll think of something." Rubellite flashed a smile. "Wait, you're watching Ghost Busters again?" She said, catching sight of the movie playing. "What, it's a classic!" "I'm out." She said, tucking her legs in and rolling off the couch. She narrowly avoided the coffee table, got up, and walked into the kitchen. "Rubellite, why is your pet wearing a suit." Came Topaz's voice from the kitchen. Rubellite audibly groaned, then launched into the explanation as John snickered and leaned back onto the couch.

* * *

 **So here's my plan; the first few days here or so, I'll try and upload a chapter a day, just to get it started, and after that I'll upload a chapter a week ^u^  
(Hopefully that will help me make the chapters longer~)  
And Ikimaru actually has a few different... AUs? UAs? of SUstuck. I'm going with the 'Rose and Dave are the cool kids, and Jade takes the place of Connie minus the 'romance'' version :3  
Have a nice day, and thanks for reading! Ars3nicCatnip, away! *Ollies outie***


	3. Monster attack

**Disclaimer; I do not own Homestuck, or Steven Universe. The x-over idea belongs to Ikimaru :3**

"So wait, you don't have school?" Jade asked John, tilting her head in a puppyish manner. It was a warm, sunny Wednesday morning, and the two of them were currently sitting in John's front yard, underneath a huge oak tree. "Nope. Topaz just gives me homework to do." "He's the one with the anime shades, right?" "Yeah! He's really quiet, and makes all sort of robots!" John said enthusiastically.  
"He doesn't really spend much time with me though." He added with a shrug. Jade looked away as Harley barked. The fluffy white dog was chasing a butterfly around the yard, trying to sniff it.  
"Oh! I found Dave's place yesterday." She said suddenly. "It was kinda weird. All those swords and framed art." She said. "Dave really likes swords. And apple juice." "I think he had a framed picture of a bottle of apple juice." "He really likes apple juice." Harley gave an especially loud bark as Rubellite flopped onto the ground next to the two friends, having walked up silently. "Talkin' about that kid who runs the music shop?" She asked. "Dave" John replied. "Right." "It's Rubellite, right?" Jade asked. "That's me." Rubellite said, nodding. "And you're name's Jade, right?" "Yes Ma'am." "You don't really look like a Jade." Rubellite stated, shifting so her legs were crossed and setting her cheek in the palm of her hand. "Well what do you think a Jade would look like?" "Wilder ha-" "Rubellite, we need you!" Emerald yelled, rushing out of the house. "What, did you burn another batch of cookies?" She yelled back, rolling her eyes.  
"No, one of the sensors picked up a Corrupted on the edge of town! We need to go now!" Rubellite jumped up quickly, rushing over to Emerald. "I thought we got rid of all of 'em near here?!" "Apparently not." Topaz said, coming out of the house and pulling his Katana out of the heart shaped gem on his chest. The three of them ran down the street, the children forgotten.  
"They're just going to leave you here?" Jade asked, watching them run. "Yeah. They trust me to not get into trouble. Hey, why don't we go watch? We can see them fight!" John enthused, balling his fists up into a fighting stance of sorts. "Do you think they'd let you watch?" "We don't have to tell them. Plus it's in town, so we can just say I was showing you around town!" John said, hopping up. "I'm not entirely certain what's going on..." Jade said, pushing herself up to her feet. "But alright."

* * *

The monster wasn't huge, only about half as big again as the average human. It was pale grey, and wielded a very sharp looking knife. Currently, it was tearing up someone's garden on the edge of town, for what ever reason monsters did stuff. By the time John and Jade got there, the gems were already fighting the stab happy anthropoid canine, Rubellite clinging to its back as a huge tiger, and Emerald staying further back to shoot at it.  
"What is that thing?" Jade whispered. The two kids were hiding behind a tree in someone's yard, looking around the sides to watch John's family take down the monster. "It's a monster!" John said, awe in his voice.  
"None of 'em ever look exactly the same."  
"But where'd it come from?"  
"I dunno. They've always been here." John whispered back as Emerald fired a few rounds at the snarling monster. Its snarls turned to a yelp as Topaz appeared out of nowhere to slash it with his katana. "Why are they attacking it?" Jade asked, looking at John. "It's not hurting anyone, so why not leave it alone?" "It's not attacking any one right now, but if it had wandered into a more populated area, it would have."  
Jade gasped as the monster threw Topaz across the street, hitting a wall hard. He got up, shook off, and headed back into the fray, ignoring the dent he had left in the house. With a howl, it shook Rubellite off its back, and lunged forward to stab Emerald. Emerald dived to the side, narrowly avoiding the knife. Emerald dropped one of his guns to deflect the knife again as the lupine beast snarled. It launched forward again, then yelped as something hit the side of its head.  
"Leave him alone!" Jade yelled, now out from behind the tree, another rock in hand. She stood poised to throw it as the monster turned around, looking for the perpetrator. It spotted Jade, rock in hand, and lunged for Jade, stopping in front of her.  
It seemed to hesitate for a moment before taking another step towards the young tween, mouth frozen in a snarl. Jade didn't look scared; She just stared at it, fists balled up angrily. "You leave them alone, you big bully!" She yelled at the monster. "You've got no right to waltz in here and destroy things! You ought to be ashamed!" She said, wagging her finger at the beast like a mother reprimanding a child. It stopped, opening its mouth slightly, confused. "Don't talk back!" Jade said as it whined, utterly confused.  
Jade kept reprimanding it as Topaz popped up behind it, thrusting his sword through its middle. It yelped as the sword ran through it, then exploded in a cloud of white smoke. He thrust his hand out, catching a cracked, opaque pale grey stone. He swiftly bubbled it and tapped it, making it disappear.  
"John." He said, turning to the side of the tree John was hiding behind. "Why aren't you at home?" "We wanted to watch you fight the monster!" John said, stepping out from behind the tree. Topaz was silent, but it was clear he wasn't happy.  
"Hey, don't be to hard on him. We didn't tell him he couldn't come." Rubellite said, walking up and setting her hand on Topaz's shoulder. "And it's not like anyone got hurt." She said, now leaning on him.  
"It would've killed Jade." Topaz stated, shrugging Rubellite off. "Yeah, but she calmed it down! Everything's alright now." Topaz shook his head, but didn't say anything. He sighed before turning around, walking back toward home.  
"Aren't you going to help fix the dent you made?" Emerald shouted, pointing to the dent. Topaz didn't reply, he just gave a thumbs up and continued walking. Rubellite shrugged. "Maybe he'll help later?" "..." Rubellite shrugged again and walked over to the children. "So how'd you calm it down?" She asked Jade.  
"I... just treated it like it was Harley. Sometimes he gets really rowdy and I have to put my foot down, and it kinda looked like a dog..." Jade said, rubbing the back of her neck. Rubellite smiled and ruffled the girl's already messy hair. "We might have lost Emerald if you hadn't thrown that rock. Thanks for that." Jade smiled back as Emerald walked over. "Aren't you supposed to be at home...?" Emerald asked.  
"Yes, we've been over this." Rubellite said, looking at him. Emerald looked confused before shaking his head and tossed his hands in the air. "So why did that thing explode? What was with that stone?" Jade asked, readjusting her glasses, her green eyes bright. "And how were you able to turn into a tiger?! Are you like a were tiger or something?" "Woah, one question at a time!" "why don't we head home to do that?" Emerald asked, pointing down the street to where Topaz was slowly shrinking against the horizon. "Alright."

* * *

"Woah, so you're all magic?!" Jade enthused, looking at Emerald and Rubellite in awe.  
The four of them had all gone to John's home to talk. Harley was still outside of course, as he would've scared Frigglish. Topaz was no where to be found. "Yep!" Rubellite said, shape shifting into the fluffy cat again. She hopped onto the table, tail waving. "Even you?" She asked, turning to John. "Well... not entirely. I'm magic on my mom's side." "That's still really cool." "And don't worry John, you'll get the hang of your powers soon enough." Emerald said, ruffling the kid's hair. "Pretty soon you'll be going on missions with us!" Rubellite snickered. "Sooner than you might think." "...Y'know, I'm not going to ask."

* * *

 **Bluh, didn't manage to complete the chapter last night -** **But hey, better late than never, right?  
Again, please review or just leave a comment :3**

 **That's all I've got to say right now~ Boi!**

 ***A3C Ollies outie***


	4. Crabs and Beaches

**Disclaimer; I do not own Homestuck or Steven Universe. The SUstuck AU came from Ikimaru on Tumblr :3**

"Heeeeeeeyyyyy! Get up!" John groaned and pulled his blanket up over his head. "Psst, we gotta go if we wanna avoid Topaz!" "It's Saturday Rubellite..." He mumbled, uncovering his head to stare at Rubellite.  
"Yeah but the alibi I came up with fits better today! We gotta go while Topaz is still in his workshop! I'm gonna go get Emerald; Meet me by the dooooor!" She shook the bedframe before scampering out of the room. John rolled out of bed, landing on the floor in a heap of ghost-print sheets. He quickly got up and went through his morning routine; Getting dressed in his favorite outfit, a pair of jeans and a sky blue shirt with a yellow star on it, running a brush and some gel through his hair and headed down to the kitchen to grab something quick to eat. Emerald was sitting at the table, reading a newspaper.  
"You're up early." He said, looking up. "Alright, I made lunch for later. You ready John?" Rubellite said, slinging a bag across her shoulder. "Yeah!" "Come on Emerald." She said, jerking her head towards the door. Emerald set his newspapers down  
"What?" "I'm kidnapping you for the day, I will explain later!" Rubellite said, heading towards the front door." "Do I get any say in this?" "Nope!" "What if I already have plans?" "Don't care, get up, let's goooo!"Rubellite squawked, pointing at the door. Emerald shook his head and slowly folded his newspaper up. He took his time, much to Rubellite's chagrin. But eventually he was up and headed to the door.  
Rubellite opened the door -  
only to find Topaz, one hand raised to turn the knob.  
His face was blank, giving away nothing. "You're up early John." He said, lowering his hand. "Yep! We're going to the beach! Figured we'd get out of your hair for the day!" Rubellite said with a smile. "...Isn't the closest beach an hour away?" "Yeah, but we're going to take the warp there! Don't worry, I'll make sure John wears sunscreen, see ya!" Rubellite said quickly, slipping past Topaz and beckoning to John and Emerald. Topaz moved to the side so they could get past, and watched as they walked to the little gazebo that housed the Home Warp.  
It gave off a warm, cozy blue light, eliminating the need for any other light source. Rubellite was already on it, dancing on her feet impatiently. Emerald and John jumped up onto the big glowing stone, waiting for Rubellite to activate it.  
"Be back before sundown." Topaz said, standing in the mouth of the gazebo. "We should be back well before then. Adios amigos!" Rubellite spun around in place once before activating the Home Warp.

"So really, where are we headed?" Emerald asked as the blue warp stream transported them. "The beach." Rubellite replied, grabbing John's foot as he floated up.  
"Don't go up too far, you'll fall down." She warned, pulling him back down. He spun around a little before coming to a halt, giggling. "We're actually headed to the beach." Emerald said, narrowing his eyes at Rubellite.  
"To begin with. Then we're going to a forest." "And you couldn't tell Topaz why?" Rubellite looked away, trying to keep quiet. "Rubellite."  
"Nooooo you gotttaaaa waaaiitt"  
" _Rubellite_ "  
"Noooo!"  
"Rubellite!"  
"FIIIINEEE." Rubellite groaned, shoulders drooping a little. "We're going on a mission of sorts for John. I've got a place that's got lots of little weak monsters that he can practice on." "How weak?"  
"Like weak enough I can punch'em and they poof. They should be good practice for him." "Wo-ooaah!" John had managed to flip upside down. Emerald quickly righted him as the warp stream ended, leaving them on another sky blue rock.

They were on a beach, with yellow sandy beaches, pastel blue skies and deep blue waters. John looked up and down the beach; To the right, there was nothing more than sand and huge mangrove trees lining the beach. Emerald's eyes lit up as he spotted something further up the beach.  
Perhaps a half mile away, carved into a cliff, was a massive statue. It was clearly old, as one of its raised hands were broken off and vines and trees were starting to reclaim the ground above. Emerald loved a good adventure, and the place looked ripe for the pickings.  
"Emerald, no." Rubellite said, setting her hand on Emerald's shoulder. He sighed and hung his head. "But don't worry, I'm sure there'll be plenty of fun where we are heading!" She said, hopping of the warp in the direction of the forest. "Come on John, lets go beat up some monsters!" She yelled, running into the forest.

"How did you manage to keep this a secret?" Emerald said, looking around the big clearing. several little hermit crab-esque monsters scuttled around in a shallow pit, with a few real hermit crabs in there too.  
"I can keep secrets." Rubellite said, shrugging and stepping down into the pit, scattering the small monsters. John was looking around at everything, trying to take it all in at once. "So why haven't these guys been bubbled?" Emerald asked, crouching down to poke one. "Because they aren't a threat. Plus, they're super cute and super friendly. Why do you have to be so friendly?! WHY?!" Rubellite asked as a few of them clustered around her feet, claws waving. She nudged them away, gently, and walked across to the other side of the pit.  
"There are some bigger ones out there too." She said, gesturing to the lush forest around them. "You wanna try summoning your weapon?" She asked John. That was something John hadn't really tried before. He didn't even know if it was the same weapon his mother had had, a huge trident. "I don't know how." John said, sitting on the edge of the pit opposite Rubellite. "Well... you just think about your weapon." Emerald said, pulling his green guns out of his gem.  
"Or at least, that's how I summon them." "But... what about when you didn't know what they were?" John asked as Emerald dissipated the weapons. "Eh? I've always known what they were John." Emerald said, poking one of the real hermit crabs. It pulled up into its shell, clicking its claws. "But... I don't know what mine is." John said with a sigh.  
"It's probably Kyanite's trident." Emerald stated, picking up one of the crabs. It clacked its claws furiously, pulling up into its shell. John sighed again, shoulders slumping. "I don't even know what Mom's trident looked like."  
"Well... if I remember, it was bigger than I am tall, light blue, with three prongs." John looked up as something landed in front of him with a thump. "Try using that." Rubellite said, pointing to the thing she had thrown. It was a trident, of sorts, made with a bunch of lashed together sticks. "It's not ideal... but hopefully it'll work for practice." She said, sitting back down.

The trident worked alright, for what it was made of. It was good enough that he could use it to practice, but any real fighting was out of the question.  
"So Rubellite, what is the 'mission' we were going to do?" Emerald asked after a few hours. While Rubellite had been helping John with the trident, Emerald had been messing around with the crabs, naming them and goofing around with them.  
"We're going to go explore that mountain." She said, adjusting John's grip on the handle of his weapon. "The one with the statue?!" Emerald said, looking up with excitement dancing in his eyes. "Yes, that one. You hungry John?" Rubellite asked, backing up as the kid threw the weapon at the target they had put up. It sailed over the top by a slim margin. John huffed and went to retrieve his weapon. He came back a moment later, shaking his head. "I'm good." "Well then, get ready for a hike. We're gonna climb a mountain."

* * *

 **Well, I watched Collide this afternoon. Not going to say anything, but it was _awesome._ Chess puppies man. (Speaking of, did any one catch the reference to them last chapter?)  
This chapter was actually going to be longer, but I decided to split it so I'd have something for tomorrow :P  
Again, thanks for reading! if you could, please leave a review!**

 **Das all I gotta say~  
A3C, away! *Ollies outie***


	5. Mountains to climb

**Disclaimer; I own neither Homestuck nor Steven Universe. The SUstuck AU belongs to Ikimaru :3**

"That's a tall mountain." Emerald said, whistling. They were at the foot of the mountain, opposite the carved cliff face.  
"Yep. And we're going to climb it and clear out some monsters." "All of them?" John said, looking up at Rubellite. "As many as possible." She told him, ruffling his hair and walking up the slope. "How many do you think are up here?" John asked, following her. "Probably not many. And don't worry, if you need help with any, we'll be here. Or at least I will." Rubellite said, looking over at Emerald, who was already slipping into adventure mode. He was scanning the mountain side, looking for the best way to get up."Go on ahead Emerald, we'll catch up later." Emerald needed no further encouragement; he forged ahead, quickly climbing up the rockier parts of the slope. Rubellite helped John with the rougher patches as they climbed, up and up and up.  
They didn't encounter any monsters until they were half way up. Emerald tossed it down from up above with a 'Watch out!' before jumping down himself. It wasn't very big, perhaps the size of a small dog, but it immediately started putting up a huge stink. It snarled, teal crystalline spines on its back puffing up. "Psst, stab it." Rubellite told John, nudging him gently. She backed up and sat down on a nearby rock, ready to give John encouragement if need be. Emerald stood ready to shoot the monster if it posed to much for John. John moved into the stance Rubellite had shown him, raising the trident. The porcupinish monstrosity trotted forward, clacking its teeth together menacingly.  
John jabbed at it, grimacing as it moved just enough to the side to dodge. John stabbed at it again, getting its side as it skittered closer. It hissed menacingly as the sharpened prongs came in contact with its side, scuffing up its fur. He stabbed it again, making it hiss. It swung around and raised its quills, chattering loudly. John stood still; there was no opening for him to poke the beast at. He hesitated for a moment longer, and the creature launched a few quills at him. Rubellite jumped up and pushed him out of the way, just barely avoiding one of the quills spearing her leg.  
"Shoot it!" Rubellite said, pointing at the monster, which was shuffling around to try and shoot them again. Emerald fired a few rounds at its face; It chuffed indignantly as they hit, and whirled around to try and spike him. He fired a few more rounds while Rubellite got up, summoned her gauntlet, and rushed forwards. She caught the monster by the tail with her free hand, and rammed her other fist into its face. She did it again as Emerald shot it again. It squealed and went up in a puff of blue-green smoke, a striated teal stone dropping to the ground. John picked himself up and dusted himself off as Emerald picked it up and encased it in a deep green bubble.  
"Nice job John! Next thing you know, we'll have you defeating the really big ones! All on your own!" Emerald enthused, smiling at the tired boy. "Okay, But. What do we do with this?" Rubellite asked, tilting her head. She gently grabbed the bubble, taking care to not pop it.  
"Send it back?"  
"But we're SUPPOSED to be having a fun, NOT dangerous day at the beach. With no monsters."  
"...Right." "Why can't you just send it back?" John asked, brushing more dirt off his pants. "Topaz keeps track of all the bubbles. All of 'em." Rubellite said. "Why don't we just say we got attacked by a monster?" "Topaz has a sensor near the beach he thinks we're at." "We didn't say what beach we were going to." "He does have a point Rubellite." Emerald said with a smile. "Hmmmmm..." Emerald took a quick look up, noting the position of the sun. "Well I'd say we've only got about four hours left, so decide quickly!" Rubellite sighed, and tapped the bubble, warping it away. "Tally ho!" Emerald cried, heading back up the rocky mountain side.

* * *

"Woah!" Emerald gasped as they crested the final hill. "You two have to see this!" "Give us a moment, we can only go so fast." Rubellite called back to him. She and John were further down, being slower climbers than Emerald. "Alright, but hurry!" Rubellite sighed, shook her head and hoisted John up a rocky out cropping. They hadn't encountered any more monsters, but the higher up they went, the more rocky the mountain side got, so more and more often Rubellite was helping John climb.  
"I think I might just toss you the rest of the way up, John." She said. "Would that be a good idea?" He asked, looking up the cliff. "Yeah! Totally! You'll just have to be sure to grab the rocks!" She grabbed the kid by the waist, and lifted him up a little.  
"Wait-" John started to say, but Rubellite lifted him up higher and launched him up the side of the mountain. He screamed as the distance between him and the ground increased below him. "John?!" He heard Emerald yell as he smacked into one of the boulders jutting from the side of the mountain. "What happened?!" Emerald yelled, coming over to the edge of the cliff. "Are you okay John?" Rubellite yelled up to the boy. "Yeah, I'm fine!" He yelled back, standing up.  
"Rubellite tossed me up." "She THREW you up here?!" Emerald jumped down, landing next to John with a _thump_. The rock shifted slightly below the two of them. "Rubellite, what were you thinking!? You can't throw John! What if you had missed?!  
" "Relaaaax. He's fine, isn't he?"  
"But if you had missed, he would've fallen and could've broken bones!" There was a blurr as Rubellite jumped and landed on the edge of the boulder. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off as the boulder shifted beneath them. "Yeah, this isn't stable." She said, taking a step forward and motioning to the others to get off. John and Emerald took a step back, but the boulder moved again, having been worn loose from years of rain and generations of trees. The weight of three people was all it needed to come loose.  
The three of them tried to run up the boulder; it fell too fast, and they were all thrown from it, free falling through the air.  
Rubellite swore, and dove towards John, morphing into a huge pink tiger.  
She caught him in her huge paws and curled around him as they smashed into the ground; seconds later they were covered in gravel and dirt.

"Are you okay John?" Rubellite asked John, moving her back legs to shuffle dirt aside. John coughed and opened his eyes, surprised to not be a pancake on the ground.  
"I'm alright. Thanks for saving me." Rubellite huffed and kicked more dirt out of the way. "Don't thank me yet." She growled, shifting around. She shuffled more and more dirt away until she could back out of the hole, John under her.  
"Emerald?!" She yelled, shape shifting back from a tiger.  
"I'm here!" They heard him yell; a moment later they spotted him as he popped up out of a pile of rocks. "Well that was fun, wasn't it?" He yelled, pulling himself out of the pile; he pulled a shoe off and tilted it upside down, sighing as a cascade of gravel fell out. "Lets, never ever, ever, do that again, hm?" He said, slipping the shoe back on and pulling the other one off.  
"Hey, how was I supposed to know the boulder was loose?" Rubellite called back to him, picking her way towards him. He sighed. "You didn't. Is John alright?"  
"I'm okay!" He yelled back, staying where he didn't want to risk tripping over a rock and falling down the hill. He looked over the area; tons of rocks, boulders and trees had been ripped loose, leaving an ugly scar on the land. The three of them had very nearly been squished. He took a step forward, taking care not to set his foot in a place it could get twisted, only to be jerked back, a cold hand slapped over his mouth. Something sharp stuck in his back, snagged on his shirt.  
" _Don't move a muscle, shorty"_ A voice growled in his ear, pulling him backwards. John struggled, trying to wriggle out of the grip of his unseen attacker. The sharp think sticking into his back disappeared, and an arm was wrapped around his middle, lifting him up.  
" _Quit struggling!"_ His kidnapper hissed, tucking John under his arm. John still struggled, looking up at his attacker with malice in his eyes. He had deep black hair, with two little nubby horns sticking up out of its wild spikes.  
He looked angry... and scared. He moved swiftly and silently, keeping one hand clapped over John's mouth. He was silent except for the occasional muffled curse when he would stumble on a loose pebble, or when he would tell John to stop wriggling and be quiet.  
"Emerald, where's John?!" Rubellite called, sounding scared. "What?" "Where's John?! He was right behind me a moment ago!" John wanted to scream, to do anything to let them know where he was. His kidnapper sped up, swearing, no longer caring about being quiet or making certain each step was sure. They soon reached the end of the rock slide, and they slipped into the forest, the cries of Rubellite and Emerald echoing around the forest.

* * *

 **I listened to so much HS OST while writing this ._. All of it man.  
Holy shibougin Idaho, 70 views! I wasn't expecting more than ten, to be honest X3 Thank you all for reading!  
I might skip posting a chapter tomorrow, just so I can make it longer. Or I'll be a meanie again and leave you all on a cliff hanger :] (Yeah I'll probably do that)  
Have a good day!**

 **A3C, Out! *Ollies outie***


	6. Kidnapped

**Disclaimer: I do not own Homestuck or Steven Universe; the SUstuck AU belongs to Ikimaru.**

The sun was going down by the time John's kidnapper stopped. He tossed John down next to a tree, looking back behind them. Once he was satisfied they hadn't been followed, he turned back to John, grabbing John's shirt and pulling him back when he noticed he was trying to slip away. "I can still take your head off" He growled, shoving John onto the ground.  
"Now listen. You're going to tell me what I ask, or there will be consequences, got it?" He growled as John scowled at him. His kidnapper wasn't much taller than him, but he was certainly stronger, and he didn't look like one to kid around. "Where are we? How far is the nearest citadel?" He asked gruffly, crossing his arms. "I'm... not sure. ...Citadel?" John asked, confusion crossing his face. His kidnapper groaned and slapped his hand on his forehead. "How do you not know what a citadel is? Y'know, the huge cities where we all live?!" "..."  
"Or lemmie guess, you're from the Kindergarten, and those two kidnapped you before someone could come collect you?" He growled again, flopping backwards onto the ground. "Just my damn luck! Good job Hematite, kidnapping the one in the group who CAN'T tell you anything! Face it, you're never going to be anything more than a screw up!" John stared at his attacker. One minute he's threatening, and the next he's throwing a hissy fit on the ground? What was with this guy? John slowly stood up, but stopped once he noticed a black, oval stone embedded in his attacker's sternum.  
"...Are you a Gem?" He asked tentatively, still in a half crouch. "Are you blind as well as stupid and defective?" His kidnapper said, uncovering his face. "Of course I'm a gem, idiot, same as you." "What do you mean by the 'kindergarten'?" John asked, scowling further. "Of course I grab the most stupid, idiotic, numbskull there is." The gem said, rolling up into a sitting position.  
"The Kindergarten. The place you popped up out of the ground at? Where you, and all other gems, were made?" He said, looking at John like he was talking to someone with a very low IQ. He slapped a palm to his face again and stood up, ignoring anything John might have had to say. "Lets find shelter for the night. Then I guess we'll just keep walking until we find somewhere." He growled, grabbing John's arm and dragging him along as he walked further into the forest.

"JOOOOHHHN!" Emerald yelled. He listened to his voice echo across the forest, ears desperately pricked for any sign of John. He sighed went there was no answer, and looked up at the sound of flapping wings. He held his arm out for Rubellite, who was morphed into an eagle, to perch on.  
"Any sign?" He asked, hoping for a different answer than the one he knew was coming. Rubellite shook her head despondently. "None at all... What are we going to tell Topaz?" Rubellite asked, worry and fear etched across her face. "I don't know Rubellite. I don't know."

* * *

John's stomach rumbled pitifully, reminding him he hadn't had lunch or dinner. "Stop growling." His captor said, growling a little himself. "I'm not, my stomach is." "What the hell is a stomach." John sighed. He was used to that sort of statement from Hematite. He would point out something, or just say something, and Hematite would ask him what the hell he meant. Eventually Hematite was satisfied that they were far enough, and picked a spot to stop for the night. He had stopped and collected a bunch of sticks while John had slumped at the bottom of a tree, wincing at his sore legs. Hematite had made a fire, rubbing his hands together to make sparks. Eventually he had been satisfied with the fire, and sat down in front of it, a few feet away from John. "...I don't know how to explain." John said, shaking his head. "Just shut it up." Hematite growled, staring into the fire.  
"I _can't._ Not unless we can find something to eat." John really regretted not eating lunch now. "You can find something in the morning. It's too dark now." Hematite grunted, tossing a stick into the fire. They were silent for a few minutes, the only sound being the crackling of the fire and the grumbles of John's stomach.  
"..What year is it?"Hematite asked eventually, staring at John from the corner of his eyes.  
"...twenty fourteen?"  
"Human years?"  
"Yeah?" Hematite straightened his back and flopped onto the ground, slamming his hands in his face. He made a sort of strangled noise, gritting his teeth. "I've been out for so long..." he mumbled. "I've probably been marked as a deserter... Pyrope's probably really mad..." He groaned again. "I'll bet the rebellion won, she's probably been smashed." "I have no clue what you're talking about." John said, standing up. He walked a little ways away before curling up at the base of a tree, intent on going to sleep. "The rebellion? Your friends back there were right hand conspirators of the rebellions leader. I recognize them, even in their weird outfits." "I've never heard of any rebellion." "Then they've kept you in the dark."

"Emerald, we have to be quiet!" Rubellite hissed, stepping off the Home Warp. It was well past midnight, and they knew Topaz would be lurking some where, ready to pounce. The two of them had had no luck in finding John, and eventually had decided to head home to rest and come up with a plan of action. But the problem there lay in what to tell Topaz; They were coming back late, and without John. "What are we going to do?" Emerald whispered, walking out of the gazebo. "I don't know!"  
"You do realize it's after midnight."  
Rubellite jumped and swore at the sound of Topaz.  
"H-hey Topaz! What are you still doing up?" "We don't need to sleep. Where's John?"  
"W-wel-ll..."  
"Rubellite, _Where is John."  
_ Rubellite's shoulder's sagged, and she let out a big sigh. "We lost him." _  
_"You _lost_ him?" "We don't know what happened, Topaz. There was a rock slide, and we fell. John was there after the rock slide, but we turned our backs for a moment and when we looked back he was gone." Emerald said, rubbing the back of his neck. "A rock slide? How was there a rock slide at a beach?" "We went for a climb after a bit at the beach." Topaz was silent, but it was clear he was not happy with this news. "So why did you come back without John? Why didn't you keep looking?" He asked after a moment. "We've been searching for _hours_. We can't find any sign of him." Rubellite grumbled. "You lost him, you will find him. Let's go." Topaz said, walking past them into the gazebo. "Can't we take a short break? We've been searching since at least five 'o clock!" "I do not care how long you've been searching. We need to find John. He's half human, if anything finds him, he won't survive long." Topaz said, stepping onto the Home Warp. " _Let's go."_

* * *

"Hey, get up. We need to move." John groaned as something nudged his side. "Noo... it's too early..." He grumbled, curling up tighter.  
"It's not early, the sun's up. Come on we need to get moving." "Its gotta be like seven in the morning..." John mumbled, stretching out. "All I know is that the sun has come up and we need to go." Hematite was standing over John, nudging the kid with his foot and looking out across the forest.  
"I need to find a familiar landmark, and I can't do that if we just sit here." John sat up, stomach complaining loudly. "Why don't you just let me go?" He asked, standing up. "Because with you, I have leverage and information against the rebels." Hematite told him, heading into the forest, beckoning for John to follow. John sighed and started following the temperamental gem; There was really no point in trying to run any more. John was sore, dirty, and hungry, and Hematite would be able to overpower him in an instant if he tried to. With any luck, his family would be able to find him, or Hematite would let him go. The latter didn't really seem likely though. Hematite seemed intent on keeping him close. "John! Hurry it up! This place isn't safe." Hematite grumbled, pushing aside brambles and branches. "For all I know, your rebellion friends are nearby."

"JOHN!?" Topaz yelled for the umpteenth time. While Rubellite and Emerald were working together, he was working by himself. He worked better that way; fewer distractions. He had been livid when Rubellite had taken him back to where they had been yesterday. Hadn't he expressly said John was not to go on missions or dangerous places until he was older?  
John was too young.  
No.  
John was too inexperienced. He would wind up seriously hurt, maybe enough to send him back into his gem, and they had no clue what would happen then. No clue if he would regenerate or not, or if he would just be dead. So far there hadn't been any signs of the boy; There were some places with broken branches, but that had probably just been an earth animal of some sort. Topaz sighed again. He never should have let them go, not when Rubellite was acting so suspicious. He should have at least tagged along to make sure nothing happened. Just another mistake. He pushed another branch out of the way, walking into a small clearing. _S_ _omeone_ had been there, not recently, perhaps a few hours ago, judging by the state of the fire in the middle and the scuffed earth around. The last few embers burned dimly, so Topaz brushed dirt over them to put them out. No sense in letting a forest burn down because of someone's recklessness.

* * *

 **Day late, durp :P**

 **I... don't really know how to feel about this chapter. This would be the first time I've written in this sort of... style, so I really don't know if its executed well :T**

 **Tatopatato: The alpha kids are the gems, yes :3 I apologize if my writing did not make that clear. Dirk is Topaz, Jake is Emerald, Roxy is Rubellite and Jane is/was Kyanite. The beta kids are just normal humans (Except John, who takes the place of Steven) and the trolls are also gems.**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! A3C == Abscond**  
 ***Ollies outie***


	7. Exploration And Statues

**Disclaimer; I own neither Homestuck or Steven Universe. The SUstuck AU belongs to Ikimaru.**

"This looks... a _little_ familiar." Hematite said, staring at the river they had happened across. "Rhondochrosite probably dragged us out here at some point..." John sat down on the bank; He was exhausted and hungry. It had probably been about a day since he had last eaten. "We need to head up river." Hematite announced after a few minutes, turning back to John.  
"What's your issue?" He asked, noting John's look. "I'm hungry and tired, and I want to go home." John huffed, crossing his arms.  
"Why are you hungry? We don't need to eat." Hematite scoffed.  
"Come on, I want to get further before the sun goes down. Maybe you can find something to 'eat'" Hematite said, turning around and walking down to the bank of the river. John didn't move. He was nearly fed up with Hematite, the lack of answers he was getting, and no food.  
"John! We need to move!"  
"No." John said, glaring at the orange horned gem. Hematite glared back at the tween, one eye brow lifting. "I said we need to move. Who knows where your fellow rebels are right now."  
"And I said no. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I want them to find me, so I can go home."  
"and I don't want to be found by those rebels."  
"Why are you so afraid of them?! Rubellite and Emerald are really nice!"  
"They're rebels John. They'd shatter me in an instant!"  
"No they wouldn't, you're a gem, just like them."  
"You think they wouldn't? I've seen the rebels attack a lot of gems. They don't care about any one but the Earth." Hematite said, scowling.  
"Get up, we have to move. We'll find you something to eat while we walk." He eventually said, starting to walk slowly up the bank.  
John grumbled under his breath and got up, following Hematite as slowly as possible. At least if he followed Hematite they could defeat any monsters they encountered.

"Is that one edible?" Hematite asked again, pointing to another berry laden bush. "I don't know." John growled; Hematite had been asked that question every few minutes, and it was starting to grate on John's nerves. None of the plants they had seen were ones John recognized, and he didn't want to eat some and potentially get poisoned.  
"So why do you need to eat any way? Are you defective or something?  
" "No, I'm half human." Hematite stopped, half-turning his body to stare at John. "What? What the hell does that even mean?" "..." John glared at the gem grumpily. Hematite glared back before something caught his attention.  
"Finally! a warp!" He yelled, running ahead. It took John a moment to spot the familiar blue stone, buried in layers of dirt and leaves.  
"Finally! Maybe now we'll be able to get somewhere!" Hematite yelled enthusiastically, brushing dirt and fallen leaves off.  
"Hop on John." John hesitated.  
There was no telling where they would end up, and at least here Rubellite and Emerald might be able to find him... But it wasn't exactly like he had a choice.  
He could either just go along willingly, or Hematite would just grab him and yank him onto the warp. So he took the remaining few steps and stood on the warp, facing away from Hematite.  
The warp lit up feebly, dimming for a moment before starting back up strongly, blue light bursting up, teleporting the two away.

* * *

Rubellite flapped her wings again, catching another updraft; She wanted to get up to survey more land. Though in this forest, where there were very few clearings, it might have been better to choose a wolf or a tiger to actually be able to see much.  
Where could have John gone? She had turned her back for two seconds, and he just poof! disappeared. Her first thought had been that some wild animal had attacked him; but wild animals were usually afraid of humans, and with the rock slide and all, there wouldn't have been any around. A corrupted gem then? But there hadn't been any sign of John's gem any where, and there hadn't been any smoke... She shook her head; she needed to worry about finding John, not what might have happened. She missed a wing-beat as something bright lit up in the corner of her eye.  
She swerved to see a warp stream fading out, quite a ways away. But how? The gems were the only ones who could use the warp pads, and John couldn't work them yet. So unless there was a rogue homeworld gem left out there...  
She flapped her wings harder, rising up, climbing high enough to enter a dive in the direction of the stream.

* * *

Jade fidgeted before knocking on the door to John's home again. It was a cheerful Sunday afternoon, so John should have been at home. But there was no sign of anyone; all the lights were off, even the ones in the shed Topaz used. She turned around to head back into town, but stopped when she noticed John's uncle Topaz walking out of the gazebo in the middle of the lawn. Usually he was hard to read, but Jade got an angry vibe from him. "Hi Mr. Topaz!" She said, trotting up to him with a wave. "Have you seen John?" She asked.  
"...John is out." Topaz said after a moment, his voice clipped and short. "Oh... Can you tell him I came by when he gets back?" "...Alright." "Thanks! I guess I better head home now; See you later Mr. Topaz!" Jade said, waving good bye to the gem as she ran across the lawn back towards town.

* * *

Hematite stepped down off the warp, looking around. John did the same. They were in what looked to be an old temple or cathedral; holes were riddled in the ceiling, and birds nested on relief carvings in the walls. Hematite's shoulders sunk as he looked around; he slowly turned around, looking at everything.  
"Where is everyone?" He whispered.  
He looked around for another moment before running across the temple, his bare feet making loud noises against the polished stone floor. John followed slowly, looking around. Most of the statues and reliefs were worn down from time and winds.  
Some had been outright smashed. The stones the place was made of were interesting. There were four or five different colors, and John wasn't certain if some were even from Earth, given how many there were and the intensity of the color. Pastel blue diamonds crossed paths with jade green teardrops, and fuchsia squares alternated with indigo blue circles.  
John kept walking, noticing more statues up ahead, that looked mostly intact.  
There were four of them towering over an enormous doorway, but one had been marred and disfigured; clearly on purpose, given the mostly intact state of the other three. As John got closer, the colors in the floor split and each led up to one of the statues. The fuchsia squares led up to the biggest of the statues, a feminine figure with two, long straight horns atop her hair, and a cascade of hair fell down her back.  
The jade teardrops led up to the smallest of the statues, discounting the smashed one.  
While the first statue looked mad, or crazed, this one looked gentle, happy and perhaps a little remorseful. It gave off an almost motherly vibe, with its floor length robes and neat, tidy hair.  
The last statue was just a bit smaller than the first, and the indigo circles led to that one. Its face gave off no emotion, and its eyes were hidden behind a pair of goggles. The pastel blue diamonds went to the broken statue, and unfortunately it was so well smashed that there were no distinguishable features.  
"PYROPE!? OLIVINE?!"  
John turned around as Hematite ran out of a tunnel to his left, panting.  
"HELL, I'LL EVEN TAKE FLUORITE!" He yelled, looking around, eyes wide.  
His voice echoed across the cathedral loudly.  
"No, no, no, I _can't_ be the only one here. There's gotta be someone!" He panted, turning around.  
"I.. I can't be... Did... we really... lose?" He stood still, silent, staring at the holes in the ceiling.  
Sunlight filtered through, leaving patches of shadows twining around the floor. John ignored Hematite, and walked up to the enormous doors.  
The colors on the floor continued onto the door, with four larger tiles in the middle. He pushed at it with his shoulder, surprised when it moved a little. With more effort, he was able to move the door enough to slip inside.  
The place was elaborately carved, and while in decent repair, some of it was smashed.  
Clearly someone had been angry at who ever the statue outside depicted, as it looked like everything of that person was gone. He stepped into the middle of the room, wondering what this place even was. A cathedral of some sort? Were these gods of an ancient civilization, and this was their temple?  
"John! You can't go in here!"  
John looked over his shoulder at the sound of Hematite's hissing.  
He was standing in the doorway, head whipping around.  
"And why not?"  
He asked, taking a few steps forward, towards the carvings at the rear of the room.  
"Because _no one_ but the diamonds are supposed to be in here! You'll be shattered if any one finds out!" "There's no one here Hematite. Look around, its _empty_."  
"Doesn't mean there's not a shard of something here to keep watch, Idiot!" "What?"  
Hematite took a step into the room, shaking like a leaf in autumn winds.  
"Come on, we have to leave!" "You can go, I'm exploring."  
John was surprised when someone grabbed his shirt sleeve; He looked back to see Hematite shaking, eyes wide, his hand grasping John's shirt sleeve.  
He started pulling John back towards the door, his gaze settled on the floor. "We are not supposed to be here." He said, voice low. John pulled himself out of Hematite's grip. "Fine, be smashed, like the defective idiot you are. I'm not standing around in this place any longer." He growled, stomping out of the room. John continued to walk around the room. There were four thrones, arranged in a half circle around the room. They weren't huge, but they certainly weren't human sized. Each one was carved out of the same colored stone that the floor tiles were made of, and each had a distinct shape.  
Once he was finished looking around, he left the room, scowling at Hematite when he noticed how close he was to the door.  
"How are you not effing dead." Hematite asked, glaring back. "There's no one here. It's safe." John's words didn't do anything to soothe Hematite, and John walked back towards the statues, ignoring him. "But surely they left traps or something..?" John continued to ignore Hematite and walked further back down the hall. Right now he just wanted to explore, without any drama.  
He wandered over to the hall Hematite had come out of a few minutes ago. The tiles did not continue into it; the floor changed to a matte grey stone, while the walls were a lighter grey, and weren't carved like the huge hall.  
He followed it out to another open space; it was another hall, though not nearly as big as the first. Large holes dotted the surface, and it curved backwards as it went up. John looked into one of the lower holes; It looked like a home of some sort.  
In the side was a bed of sorts carved out of the rock, and holes in the back, probably to store things. He wandered through a few more.  
One was covered in elaborate multi color doodles, and a chart of some sort; the paints the art had been drawn in had been left out, and had long since dried up, and most of it had flaked away.  
Another had chalk scrawls all over the floor and up the lower halves of the wall, with torn apart stuffed animals in a plethora of hues littering the ground.  
But for the most part, they were empty.  
John's stomach growled pitifully, reminding him that he hadn't eaten for a whole day. He sighed, and kept walking through the cathedral. Maybe if he kept moving, he would get lucky and find a garden or something. Plus, maybe he could lose Hematite and find his way back to the beach. Surely Rubellite and Emerald would be looking for him there?

* * *

John kept wandering, finding nothing close to what he was looking for. He found a few dried up fountains, along with one actually running one, but no gardens or places he could slip out into the forest, unseen. That is, if there was a forest outside. He really had no idea what was beyond the walls. For all he knew, he was underground.  
He kept wandering, thankful that Hematite was no where to be seen.  
He found a whole room filled with warp pads; most of them were broken, with huge splits down the middle.  
Another hall was just more living quarters, and another seemed to be a barracks of some sort.  
John walked down a carved hall way, noticing that the walls were getting lighter in color.  
Holes in the ceiling looked like they were meant to let in light, but overgrown vines and branches prevented any light from coming in.  
The end was covered in the same, but a few stray beams of light managed to wriggle their way through. John lifted a foot up and kicked the barrier, his foot bouncing back off the stiff, dead branches. He grabbed between a few vines and pulled. It took him a while, but eventually he managed to make a hole big enough to get through.  
He blinked in the bright light before stepping out into what remained of a garden.  
Flowers and overgrown vines and bushes lined the ground, crowding out any sight of the ground. He took a step out onto the green carpet, nudging aside some prickly vines. Trees dotted around the garden left huge patches of shadow. John walked out, scanning the ground for anything edible. He nudged aside a frog. There had to be something edible here; it couldn't all be orientals and orchids, could it?  
It took him a while, but eventually he found what he was looking for; a patch of wild black berries, sitting nestled into the bowl of an old fountain.

"JOHN?" Someone yelled. John started awake; Where was he? Why was he sleeping on the ground? John sat up, groggy, before remembering why. He looked over to where the voice was at, scowling when he saw it was Hematite. "Where the eff did you go? Why you run off?" Hematite asked, picking his way over to John. John pushed himself to his feet, still scowling. "I was looking for something to eat, and you weren't helping." He said, walking over to the spot he entered the garden. Hematite trailed after him, bare feet making noises against the stone floor. John made a growling noise and thought of his family; Oh, if only he knew how to use the warp pads! Then he wouldn't be in this mess. He could just go home, and Hematite wouldn't be able to find him, and he could just sit on the couch with Emerald and watch movies.  
He picked his way back to the first living quarters he had found. He hadn't yet had a chance to explore the top ones, so he figured he'd do that now. But Hematite grabbed his shirt, tugging him back towards the first hall. "We're heading out of this place. This Citadel's empty, but the next one might not be." He tugged John back through the first tunnel, into the hall they had come in at. He headed straight for the warp.  
Which lit up in a bright, blinding light.  
"Do you really think they'd be here?"  
Rubellite, Emerald and Topaz were all standing on the warp pad, looking at one another.  
"The sensor detected movement. Someone is here." Topaz said, adjusting his glasses.  
" _Let John go."_ Emerald said, pulling his guns out and aiming them at Hematite.  
Rubellite and Topaz whipped their head around before pulling their weapons out and slipping into a fighting stance.  
Hematite swore, and ran back towards the tunnel, dragging John with him.  
"Hey, let him go!" Rubellite yelled, running off the warp and chasing after them, Topaz and Emerald following suit. John struggled, trying to break Hematite's grip, but he had a vice like grip on his shirt.  
They re-entered the living quarters momentarily. Hematite swore again, and started heading to the next tunnel; John resisted, stomping on Hematite's bare toes. "Rubellite! We're over here!" He yelled. Hematite grabbed him, and tucked him under his arm, covering his mouth. "Shut the eff up! You're going to get us caught!" John struggled harder, trying to nip Hematite's hand. "Stop, Idiot!" Hematite hissed, carrying John down the next tunnel.  
He kept struggling, sometimes nearly breaking free, only to have Hematite readjust. "If we get to the warp room... we can get away!" Hematite panted, changing direction. John bit down on one of Hematite's fingers, making him hiss and remove his hand.  
"TOPAZ! WE'RE OVER HERE!" He screamed. Hematite slapped his hand back over John's mouth, glaring. John glared back as they walked into the long hall with the warp pads. Hematite ran up to one, stomping on it, trying to make it work.  
"Well, shucks buster, looks like they aren't working." Emerald was standing in the entrance way, guns drawn. His face was deadly serious.  
"So why don't you set John down, hm?" He said. Hematite took a step back, only to have Emerald shoot the ground near him "Ah ah ah, _You're not going any where._ " Emerald said, taking a step forward.  
" _Set John down."_ Hematite slowly lowered John to the ground, eyes locked on Emerald. " _Now let him go."_  
As soon as he was free, John ran to Emerald, embracing him.  
Emerald gave him a quick hug, not taking his eyes off of Hematite. "Go find Topaz and Rubellite." He said, releasing the young boy. Hematite gave an animalistic snarl. "What, are you going to shoot me? like some coward? Or a _rebel?_ That's what you are, right? Just some cowardly rebel." Emerald nudged John away, pointing to the doorway. "Go get Topaz and Rubellite, then come back here."  
John ran out of the room, not entirely certain where to find the two of them. "Topaz?! Rubellite?!" "John?!"  
He turned the corner, and there they were. In a flash, he was pulled up into an embrace. It took him a moment to realize it was Topaz hugging him, not Rubellite like he had expected. "What the heck happened?!" Rubellite yelled, waving her arms frantically. "I'll tell you later, Emerald needs you two!" Topaz set John down and followed him to where Emerald had Hematite at bay. Topaz wasted no time.  
He immediately drew his katana, rushing towards the rogue gem.  
Hematite growled again, and summoned a sickle from his gem, stepping back as Topaz swung his katana.  
"What, are you going to shatter me? Like you did to all those other gems?" He taunted, swinging his own weapon.  
Emerald shot the ground next to Hematite, sending him off kilter, while Topaz jumped forward.  
"You don't mess with John." Topaz said, thrusting the sword through Hematite's middle.  
There was a momentary pause, and then a cloud of grey smoke; a black oval gem dropped to the ground, and Hematite was gone.  
"What the heck happened John?!" Rubellite asked, pulling John into a bone crushing hug. "I'm... not really certain. The rock slide happened, and then Hematite just grabbed me from out of nowhere..." John told her.  
"I wonder if he was buried a while back, and the rock slide yesterday uncovered him." Emerald said as Topaz picked the gem stone up.  
"Where did he go?" John asked.  
"W-eeee-lllll..." Rubellite stuttered. "He had retreated into his gem for now." Topaz said, bubbling the stone.  
"So he'll be back?" "No." John looked around at his family. "He said he was a gem, like you guys. And he said there was a rebellion that you were a part of?" He asked, brows knitting in confusion. They'd never mentioned any thing about a rebellion, or war, or any thing like that, and John had been under the impression that they were the only three gems around. Emerald flinched at mention of a rebellion. "Let's just get you home for now, eh kiddo? There will be plenty of time for questions later." Emerald said, ruffling John's hair. Rubellite stood up, still hugging John. "Oh, by the way John, You're grounded." Topaz said as the left the room. "What?" "I told you, you were not to go on missions. So you're grounded." "For how long?" "Until I say you're not."

* * *

 **Okay, lemme see if I can accurately describe my feelings about today:**

 **AHSLDJHUWPAUSDHAPPYHJAHSLDKAHWPSADIUeAHWPASIDAGOSH.  
Yeah that's about it ^^^  
I just wanna say (Even though Mr. Hussie will probably never see this) _Thank you, Andrew Hussie, for making Homestuck. I've only been in the fandom for about two and a half months, but it's been awesome. You've managed to make me outright laugh, like a real laugh, which is not something I often do, as well as cry over the death of something that wasn't an animal. So thank you, for your wonderful comic._**

 **And yes, I am not having Hematite/Karkat swear as much on purpose. I don't particularly like writing swears, so I shan't do them as much.  
Thanks for reading! If you have time, leave a review please? (I like getting feed back :3)  
Also, from here on out, I plan on updating once a week, maybe twice.  
A3C is out, have a great day! *Ollies outie***


	8. Years ago (But not many)

**Disclaimer; I do not own either Homestuck or Steven Universe. The SUstuck AU belongs to Ikimaru on tumblr :3**

"Look at that one." Jade said, pointing to another ant. John and Jade were sitting in John's front lawn, watching an ant hive. Topaz had let Jade know John was back the next morning, and she had come over that afternoon.  
"So they grounded you?" She asked after a moment, launching back into the conversation they had been having. "Yeah. No electronics, and I have to go to bed early until Topaz un-grounds me. Which seems kinda light, if you ask me." "Well if he grounded you for a year, that wouldn't be so light." John looked over his shoulder, to where Topaz was sitting on the stoop of the house.  
While Topaz wasn't hovering... John was certain he was staying close. Jade picked up a stick and lowered it so a few ants could walk onto it.  
She lifted it back up to get a better look at the little guys. "They're so small..." "Yeah." John said absentmindedly. The size of the ants reminded him of how small he had been next to those statues. What had been up with those? He had asked Emerald earlier, but he had said there was something he needed to do and disappeared. Rubellite hadn't given him any answers either. She had given him the same excuse as Emerald; there was something she needed to do, she'd tell him later. He hadn't even bothered to ask Topaz, because he was certain he would just give the same answer he always gave; I'll tell you when you're older. He hated that phrase.

Topaz watched the two kids play with the ants. He had been watching John when ever possible, fearful to let the young boy out of his sight. It felt like just yesterday John had been toddling around, barely able to walk or speak.  
"Kitchen's clean." Rubellite said, coming out of the house and flopping onto the ground.  
"..." "It is! We even scrubbed the floor."  
"Now you can get the living room done."  
"Uurrrggghhh... Who put you in charge?"  
"You did, eleven years ago."  
"Hmph." Topaz stood up, intent on heading inside. It hadn't been his choice to lead. That had been Kyanite's role, and after Kyanite's death he had been... shafted into the role. He headed inside and sat down at the kitchen table, trying to dispel the old memories that had been dredged up.

* * *

 _John was_ finally _asleep. The six month old had caught a fever, and had been grouchy and upset all morning. Topaz laid the infant down in his crib before quietly leaving the room. He sat down on the couch, sliding down. John's Father was currently out on a work trip, and had been out since yesterday, so he and the remaining two members of the team were watching John until he got back tonight. Well, Topaz was. Emerald hadn't been seen in a few days; he hadn't taken Kyanite's death well, and spent most of his time out exploring. If he was home, it wasn't for more than an hour, and it was always away from John. And Rubellite... Well, Rubellite hadn't taken the death of her best friend well either. Topaz sighed, removing his shades. He set them on the table, rubbing his forehead with one hand. He sat up again as the phone in the kitchen rang; no sense in letting it wake John up. He entered the kitchen to see Rubellite already holding the phone, a wine glass in her other hand.  
"What? I'm sorry *hic I don't understant.. stand" She said, obviously drunk. Topaz held his hand out for the phone. Rubellite set it into his hand before taking another sip of her drink. "Ma'am? Are you still there?" Came a voice from the phone. Topaz brought the phone to his ear as Rubellite sat back down at the table, humming off-key. "Hello?" He said.  
"Oh! Hello, is this the Egbert residence?"  
"It is." Why was someone calling here? Topaz didn't recognize the voice. "I am afraid I have some... bad news. Mr. Egbert was in a car accident. I'm afraid he didn't make it." Topaz was silent. "...What?" "Mr. Egbert was in a car accident this morning; I'm afraid he didn't make it." John's Father... dead? He couldn't be, who was going to care for John? "...Thank you for the news." He said, placing the phone back in the cradle. The man was still talking as he set it down. There was no way. John's dad couldn't be dead; he was going to be home tonight, and the three of them could go back to finding corrupted gems. "Was goin' on?" Rubellite asked, her speech slurred. "'What's going on' is you need to stop drinking." Topaz told her.  
"Heh... yur funny... y'know that?" She slurred, finished off her drink and cradling her head in her other hand.  
"..." Topaz ignored her, and left the kitchen. This had to be a joke. A really bad one. He walked down the hall to where John was sleeping; He picked up the rocking chair in the corner and moved it closer to the crib. John was still sleeping, his little chest moving up and down with every breath he took. Just looking at him, Topaz thought he was too small. Weren't human children supposed to be bigger by now? and there was no way his father was dead. He couldn't be. He'd be home within a few hours. Topaz sighed and leaned against the crib._

 _Emerald pushed the door open quietly. Not that there was really a reason to be quiet, other than avoiding Topaz and Rubellite. He walked into the living room, surprised not to see Topaz.  
Usually he was sitting on the couch, sometimes with John, sometimes without. He couldn't bare to look at the kid; he looked so much like Kyanite. It made Emerald's heart ache. He looked in the kitchen; Rubellite was sitting at the table, drinking from a bottle.  
"H-hey! It's bin... been a be... bit since we last saw ya! Parol... patrul go good?" She hiccuped, taking another swig. "...Yeah." He said. He had no idea what she was drinking, but judging by her flushed face it couldn't have been good. "Should you be drinking that?" He asked. "Maibe a batter... butter... Eff... BETTER question is why arent yu?" She slurred, setting the bottle down.  
"It can't be good for you."  
"So?"  
"...Where's Topaz?"  
"Dunno. Somewhar. Prububbly with John."  
"...Oh." If Topaz was with John, it would probably just be better to leave, and go 'patrol' again. "You're back sooner than I expected." Emerald looked over at his shoulder; Topaz was coming down the hall from where John's bedroom was, holding the infant. John rubbed his eye with a balled up fist, babbling something. "I've only been gone for a few hours." Emerald said, looking back at Rubellite.  
"...Emerald, you've been gone for two days."  
"What?"  
"Yehs, its bin a whale since we last saw yu." Rubellite slurred from the table.  
"...Guess I lost track of time."  
John wiggled in Topaz's arms and Topaz set him down. John sat, patting the ground. He looked up at Emerald, babbling incoherently. Surely he should be talking by now?  
"...Have you seen any sign of John's Father?" Topaz said as John slid down onto his stomach. "Hm? Not recently. Isn't he on a work trip?"  
"...Yeah. He should've been back by now..." Normally Topaz's face was blank as a sheet of paper, but right now it was etched with worry. Emerald looked down as something tugged his pant leg.  
He stiffened as John pulled himself up to his feet, cooing happily. John had the same bright blue eyes as Kyanite, which made him all the more difficult to look at. "Hay dere John..." Rubellite hiccuped, waving at the baby. John stared at her for a moment before waving his hand back.  
"..I'm going to head back out.." Emerald said as John let go and landed on his rump. He got half way to the door before Topaz spoke. "Stop." "Hrm?" "You are staying here." "But-" "_No. _You are staying here, and you"  
Topaz disappeared into the kitchen out of Emerald's line of sight.  
"Are going to stop drinking. We are not going to fall apart. We are going to be just fine, Even if Kyanite isn't here. We still have a job to do." __Something was set on a countertop, and Topaz came back out of the kitchen, holding John. "Rubellite, don't touch that bottle. Emerald, come here." Emerald slowly turned around to face Topaz. John had one hand stretched out towards him, looking at him intently.  
"Take John."  
"Bu-"  
"Take John. I've got something I have to do." Emerald gently took the boy; John wriggled happily, babbling. Emerald held the child at arms length, unsure of what to do. Topaz left the building, leaving John with Emerald and Rubellite at the kitchen table. "...Well shucks buster kiddo, what are we supposed to do?" He pulled John closer, holding him like Topaz had been. John patted Emerald's head before fondling his glasses.  
"Rubellite, what do I do?"  
"Heckef I knoew..." Rubellite had her head resting on the table, arms hanging limply at her side. John pulled Emerald's glasses off and awkwardly slid them onto his own face. He patted Emerald's cheek, looking around. Emerald was at a loss; He didn't want to hold John, and he didn't know what to do with him. But right now didn't seem to be a good time to argue with Topaz. Something had him in an off mood. Emerald's glasses were threatening to slide off of John's face as he looked around. Emerald sighed and sat down on the couch, setting the child down next to him. John wobbled a little before falling onto his back.  
"...Rubellite, what's he doing?"  
"I dunno. Don think he knoes aithur."  
"Hmmmm..."  
Emerald picked his glasses up, setting them back on his nose. John babbled and grabbed his toes, sticking them in his mouth. "...Are babies supposed to do this?" "Pfft, I dunno, I've nevir evin seen a baby before." Rubellite said, straightening up and leaning back on the chair. "All I know is hes not lak... like a gem..." "Yeah." John cooed and held his hands out. "So what am I supposed to be doing?" "I dunno. An hay, whar've you bin." Rubellite scowled "Been these last six munths?"  
"I've only been gone for a day."  
"No you havant. Yuve ben gone alot"  
"I've been exploring."  
"Yu dident explaor this muhch before"  
"..." Emerald was silent as Rubellite stared at him. "Yuve been gone alot... it worries me." "It's not like I'm going to get hurt Rubellite." "How do you know?" "..." "We already lost Kyanite... I... I don think I... _we _could taek loosing yu to..." Rubellite said, looking down at the floor. "An Jon's gonna need yu too." Emerald stared at the baby, who was once again eating his toes.  
"...He's not Kyanite. He can't replace her." John slowly rolled over, babbling. He crawled onto Emeralds lap, patting his leg.  
"You won't take her place." Emerald said, gently nudging him off. John huffed and crawled forward again, only to be nudged off. John looked up at Emerald, mouth turned down in a frown. John put his hands on Emerald's leg, making little noises. Emerald glared at the child. John stared back blankly. "Emruld..." "He won't replace her." "Hes not gunna." "..." "He wont" Emerald slid John over again and stood up. John mewled, patting the couch unhappily. Emerald turned around, eyes starting to mist up. He shouldn't have come back home. There was nothing but heart ache here.  
"Emruld, where ar you goin?" "Out."_

 _Topaz looked out the window of the shed as a door somewhere slammed. Emerald stomped out the door of the house, one hand on his face. Hadn't He told Emerald to stay with John? He set the wrench he had been using down and opened the door.  
"Emerald." He called. Emerald payed no heed, and continued walking to the Warp Pad in the middle of the lawn. Emerald hopped ontop of it, quickly warping away to who knew where.  
"Emerald..." Topaz sighed and walked back to the house; He wasn't willing to leave John alone, and if Emerald wasn't going to watch him he would have to. He stepped into the living room to see Rubellite, shapeshifted into a cat, curled around John on the couch. She purred drunkenly as John patted her head, looking around.  
"Where's Emerald going?"  
"Ai dunno, he waz getten upsat at Jon, soe he laft." She mumbled, momentarily stopping her purring. She started up again as John tugged on her tail.  
"So whacha workin awn?"  
"...Some sensors so we don't have to patrol all the time. I've been working on them for a while." Rubellite was silent as John tugged on her ear, cooing. "I kin warch Jon" She said, nuzzling him.  
"...Alright."  
Topaz turned around, giving John a small wave as he left.  
The baby waved back, sticking his other hand in his mouth as he did so.  
"Topaz?" Topaz looked over his shoulder. "Yes?" "...Nofin'" Topaz nodded and walked out of the house into the early evening sun, his shades preventing the sun from blinding him.  
There was no sign of Emerald; He probably wouldn't be back for a few days. So much for him and John getting along. He sighed and slipped back into the shed, flipping the light back on. He sat down in a chair at the workbench, picking one of his tools back up.  
Surely, there was some way to get Emerald to warm up to John? If they could keep him around John for a while, he would probably at least get used to the kid. They might never be friends, but at least Emerald would be around so they could hunt down more corrupted gems.  
Topaz looked out the window again, unable to focus on the task at hand. There was still no sign of John's Father, and he should've been back by now. That call had to have been a prank. It had to have been.  
But somehow he knew it wasn't.  
Topaz sank down on the table, holding his head in his hands.  
John's Father wasn't coming back. Kyanite was gone. Rubellite was a drunken mess, and Emerald kept running off. So much had happened in recent months, and no one had had any time to adjust. But they needed to adjust, and soon, or the team would fall apart.  
He stood up and left the shed again, heading back into the house.  
Rubellite was still purring, curled around John. She looked up as the door closed. "Huh?" She blinked, staring at him. "I'm going to find Emerald. Stay here with John." "Gut it." She slurred, laying her head back down on the couch as John tugged on her fur. "...You know how to put him to bed right." "...Noe." "Just set him in his bed in an hour, and I'll take care of the rest when Emerald and I get back." "M'kay" Topaz left the house, quickly running to the Warp Pad. Emerald hadn't been gone long, so he probably wouldn't be far from the warp, where ever he was._

 _Topaz warped from place to place, calling for Emerald at each different spot. There was no sign of him at any of his favorite spots; An old temple, some jungle in the middle of nowhere, and an abandoned citadel. Nothing had been disturbed at any of them, and that worried Topaz.  
He sighed as he warped again.  
Still no sign. He repressed a shudder as he thought of one place Emerald might be. He'd save that place for last._

 _He warped around for another hour, becoming more and more frustrated with every failed place. Where the hell was Emerald? He wasn't any where to be found, and he wasn't answering. Topaz growled and hopped back onto the warp, looking around one last time. There was one last place to check before giving up the search and going home. He activated the warp, suppressing a shudder as he landed on the other end._  
The Kintergarden.  
 _The place looked just like it had been left thousands of years ago. Gloomy, oppressive, and not a single plant or animal in sight. The cliff walls rose up high, peppered with holes. He took a step off the warp, fists clenched.  
"You better be here..." He mumbled, looking around. He walked down the long canyon, trying to ignore the depressing air. "Emerald!" He yelled, looking around for any movement. "Emerald, are you here!?" He turned his head as something clattered to the ground behind to his left. "Did you find a corrupted?" Emerald asked, sliding down the side of the canyon. "No." "Then why'd you come here? You hate this place." "I was looking for you." "Why?" Topaz sighed and turned around. "Emerald, you can't keep running." Emerald crossed his arms as Topaz came towards him. "I'm not running, I'm exploring."  
"...I know you miss Kyanite. We all do. But we still have a job to do, and I don't think Kyanite would want to see you like this." Emerald was silent, staring at the ground.  
"I'm not going to let him replace her." Emerald mumbled.  
"Emerald, John is not going to replace Kyanite. It's not like we're going to forget her" "..." "Emerald, we're not. We won't forget her. Certainly not while John's around."  
"I don't like John. Why did Kyanite have to fall in love?!" Emerald growled, tossing his hands into the air. Topaz remained silent as Emerald ranted. "Why'd they have to have a kid? Why did he have to take her away?!" He snarled. "It was her choice Emerald." "...I should've done something. Anything." "Emerald what's done is done." Emerald growled and turned around, walking towards the warp pad. In a flash Topaz was at his side, arms crossed. "You can't keep running from your problems." "Watch me" Emerald said, stepping onto the warp. Topaz grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Emerald, you need to come back. We need you. John's going to need you too."  
Emerald stopped. "Why should I care about John." "None of this is John's fault. He didn't ask to be born." Emerald stared at Topaz before tugging his arm out of his grip. "...Don't make me watch him." He said, hopping up onto the warp. "Only if the need arises." "Not ever Topaz." "Hm."_

* * *

"Topaz?" Topaz looked up from the kitchen window he had been staring out of for who knew how long. "I'm sorry for not listening." John said, rubbing his arm. "You were right, missions are dangerous." Topaz looked at the boy. It was amazing how things could change in a small amount of time. John was nearly thirteen and could almost take care of himself, and Emerald spent nearly every day with the boy. John turned around to leave. "...If you have time, we'll start teaching you how to strife tomorrow." Topaz said, turning back to the window. "Huh?" "I'll teach you how to strife tomorrow, if there's time." "Really?" "Yes" Topaz looked down as John rushed over and hugged him. "Thank you." John whispered as he let go. Then John ran out of the room, most likely to tell Rubellite and Emerald. Topaz turned back to the window with a nod.

* * *

 **Wow its been a while since I've been around babies ._.  
I don't really remember if they would even be crawling around at six months XP (Sorry if I got the behaviors wrong)  
And how do drunk write :?  
This isn't how this chapter was gonna go ._. it was gonna be fluff and it got away from me...**

 **Sunshinemoonpops: Aww, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying SUstuck -^u^-  
**

 **And thank you to everyone who has Followed/Favorited this so far! It means a lot to me =^w^=**

 **Thank y'all for reading! Feel free to leave a review/critique :33  
A3C, away! *Nabs my stuffie, Fen, and Ollies Outie***


	9. A Day Off

**Disclaimer; I own neither Homestuck nor Steven Universe. The SUstuck AU belongs to Ikimaru :33**

* * *

"Aw, do you have to leave?" John asked, looking up from the piece of paper he was scribbling on. "Sorry kiddo, We've gotta get the sensor back up." Emerald said, ruffling John's hair.  
"But we're still going to strife later, right?" John said, setting his pencil down. "Of course we are!" Rubellite said.  
"We should be back within the hour. Don't leave the yard." Topaz said, walking towards the door.  
"I won't."  
"See ya later John!" Rubellite said, running out the door after Topaz. John watched them leave before turning back to his paper. Hopefully the gems wouldn't encounter anything that would put up too much of a fight, and they would be home within the hour. It was dreadfully boring without them and being unable to watch T.V to pass the time. John looked down at his sketch; It was of the statue he had seen, the one with the long horns and cascades of hair. What in the _world_ had that place been? He pushed the paper away, looking around the kitchen; It was empty aside from John and a fly buzzing on the wall.  
He supposed he could go read Colonel Sassacre's again, but he didn't feel much like working on his gambit. There was always Rubellite's wizard journals... nah.  
His deck of playing cards wasn't much use, as he didn't know how to play solitaire, there was no one to play other games with or do magic tricks with. And there was no point in calling Jade, she was at school and he couldn't use the phone any way, except for emergencies. Frigglish meandered into the kitchen, tail held up high in the air. He ignored John, staring at the fly as it buzzed about. John sighed. It looked like it was going to be a long morning.

John leapt up as the door opened. They had been gone closer to an hour and a half, but at least they were back now. "Hey Kiddo!" Emerald said, hugging the boy once he was close enough. "It took us a bit longer to find a good spot for the sensor, Topaz didn't like any of the places we found at first." Rubellite said, playfully punching Topaz's arm. "They need to be in specific spots otherwise they will not work correctly." Topaz told her. Rubellite shrugged. "Must be really really specific then." "Can we go strife now?" John asked excitedly, eyes bright. "Yeah! Why not?" Rubellite answered with a smile.

"Hey, are you going to bring out your robot Topaz?" Rubellite asked, deflecting a blow from Emerald. "No." Topaz said, blocking a blow from John. Topaz had insisted on strifing with John, so Emerald and Rubellite were strifing with one another... sort of. Mostly they were just goofing around.  
"Why not, it'll be fun!"  
"It'll be too dangerous. And it is not a robot, it is a hologram."  
"Robot, Hologram, what ever, it's something to strife with. Oof!" Rubellite yelped as Emerald swept her legs out from under her.  
"And that John, is why you should never take your eyes off your opponent." Emerald said, helping Rubellite back up. John shifted back into the position that Topaz had showed him. So far he had only manged to get a few shots on Topaz's wrists, nothing 'major'. This wasn't exactly what he had thought his first strife would be like, but at least he was learning how to defend himself.  
"Ignore them John." Topaz said quietly, slipping into his fighting stance.  
"You need to focus on your opponent. It's not a good idea to get distracted; that can get you killed in a serious fight." He instructed. John nodded.  
"See if you can disarm me."  
"But... You don't have a weapon."  
"See if you can _restrain_ me" Topaz said, shifting a little. John nodded and made a lunge for Topaz's arm. John landed on the ground as Topaz quickly slid to the side; Topaz helped him back up. "Good try." He said. "But don't lunge; it'll throw you off balance and your opponent can easily knock you over, or you will wind up on the ground."  
"Ha! Gotcha!" Rubellite yelled as she knocked Emerald onto his back. "Now we're even." She said, a giant smile on her face as she helped him back up.  
They practiced for another half hour before Topaz said they were going to switch up; Now Emerald was with John, and Rubellite was with Topaz. If Topaz had been holding back with John, he certainly wasn't with Rubellite. She was swept off her feet moments after they began. Emerald went slower than Topaz had, letting John score a few hits, praising him when he did so.  
"Aim for joints, those are weak points." Emerald suggested as John landed another hit.  
"Got it" John nodded, going through the things he had been told. Mostly it was defensive things; How to block, how to dodge, things like that. He backed up a little, holding his hands up like Emerald had shown him. Emerald tossed a punch in his direction, which John easily deflected.  
"There you go! See if you can catch this one;" Emerald praised, throwing his other fist. John used a block Topaz had shown him; He didn't succeed in catching the fist though. It stopped inches away from his nose. "Oh well, there's always next time." Emerald said, taking a step back. John nodded and raised his arms again. "HECK YEAH!" Rubellite yelled as she managed to tip Topaz over. "Finally got you." Topaz's face remained blank as Rubellite helped him up. "Yes, you got me this time. Let's see if you can do it again." Topaz said. "Of course I can do it again!" Rubellite said, a smirk playing across her face. "Prove it." Rubellite crouched down, preparing to launch herself at Topaz. "John, see if you can knock my glasses off." Emerald said as Rubellite rushed forward, bringing John's attention back to himself. He looked at Emerald; With the stance Emerald was using, it would be a better idea to feint to the side and then attempt to slide the glasses off of Emerald's face. He leaned to one side before feinting to the other, only to have Emerald block his hand. "DARN IT!" Rubellite yelled as a well aimed kick knocked her to the ground.

They practiced for another hour before Topaz told everyone to stop. "That's enough for today." He said. "Aww, but we didn't even get to use weapons!" John said, looking up at Topaz. "You need to know the basics first." Topaz told him, his face a blank slate as always. He turned back to the house. "We'll do some more training tomorrow." He said, entering the house. Rubellite rubbed John's head. "I'm sure he'll let you use weapons soon. Now, let's go find something fun to do!" She said with a smile. "If Topaz doesn't have any chores for us to do..." Emerald mumbled, readjusting his glasses.  
As it turned out, Topaz did not have any chores for Rubellite and Emerald to do. With a dismissive nod, he grabbed an orange flavored soda out of the fridge and left the house, probably to work in his shed. "So what are we gonna do?" Rubellite asked, sitting down on the table. "We could wander around town." Emerald said as John crossed the kitchen to the fridge. He opened it up and pulled out sandwich fixings as the two gems debated. He was hungry after an hour and a half of strifing.  
Frigglish wandered in, rubbing his head against John's legs as he sat down. John slipped him a small piece of meat as Rubellite and Emerald kept talking. "Going out is still a better idea than sitting around here, because at least we'll be doing something" Rubellite said. Frigglish jumped up onto the table, purring loudly. He still wore the front half of the suit, but somehow had managed to ditch the pants, the silly cat. Rubellite scratched his head gently, and was rewarded with a happy purr.  
"Where are your pants?" She asked him with a small smile. Frigglish purred louder, rubbing his head on Rubellite's arm. "So, we headed out?" She queried as the cat crawled onto her lap. Emerald shrugged "Eh, why not."  
With a quick explanation to Topaz as to where they were headed, the three of them left the yard to head into town. Frigglish of course was left at home, as you couldn't exactly walk a cat. The three of them walked down the street, talking, and waving to those they passed.  
It didn't take them long to get to the central part of town, maybe fifteen minutes or so. Being around lunch time, not many people were out and about; The only people in sight were the 'cool kids' of the town, Rose Lalonde and Dave Strider, heading down the opposite side of the street.  
Dave quickly rode across the street on his skateboard, executing a jump on it to get up on the sidewalk. He held out his hand; Rubellite and John high-fived him as he passed by. He flipped the board up in the air as he left the sidewalk, skating back to the other side where Rose was walking, her thin pink scarf fluttering in the breeze.  
It didn't matter what day it was, how hot it was or how windy it was, Rose always wore her scarf, just like Dave always wore a pair of shades and a red and white long sleeved shirt. Rose waved as Dave continued down the street; Rubellite, Emerald and John all waved back before Rose sped up to catch up with Dave.  
"So when do you think Topaz will let me use a weapon to strife?" John asked.  
"It'll probably be a bit. Topaz seems to want to start slow."  
"Aww..."  
"Hey, I'm sure it'll be soon."

The three friends meandered around town for the rest of the afternoon, saying hello to those they met before eventually turning about to head home in the early evening sun. Topaz was still holed up in his shed, so they decided to let him be and headed inside. "Hey, why don't we break out some of those old board games?" Emerald said as he closed the door. "Where'd they even go?"Rubellite wondered, flopping on the couch. "They're in the hall closet." John said, heading down the hall towards the afore mentioned closet. Opening it up, he pulled out a few board games and brought them back to the living room. "Think we might be able to get Topaz in on this?"Emerald asked. "I doubt it." Rubellite said. She had flipped around so her head was hanging off the couch. "Hmm..." "If he comes in, we'll ask him." Rubellite righted her self, and picked up the boxes. "Which one first?" John pointed to the one on the bottom. "That one"

"Aaaannd I'm stuck in the molasses swamp _again_." Rubellite grumbled, leaning back. "I'm never going to get out. This is my new home." She said, tossing her hands into the air. "I'm sure you'll get out Rubellite. You did it last game." Emerald said, moving his piece. "Yeah, it'll be right after the game's over."  
Frigglish meowed and jumped onto the couch behind Rubellite. He purred and rubbed his head against the back of Rubellite's head. She sighed and reached back, scratching him on the head. "I'm sure you'll get out." John quietly moved his piece, partly lost in thought.  
"You okay kiddo? You've been really quiet." Emerald asked as Rubellite took her turn. "Hm? Yeah, I'm just thinking." Emerald took his turn, ignoring Rubellite's groan of frustration. "Thinking about what?"  
"...This weekend."  
"Ah."  
"...I keep thinking about what Hematite said. About how you guys were rebels and there was a war. It's not true, right?"  
Emerald glanced at Rubellite before looking back to John.  
"He probably told you that in an attempt to turn you against us John." He said as he moved his game piece.  
"But... He said he was a Gem, like you guys. Why would he want to turn me against you?"  
"Umm..."  
"...Not all gems are good John." Rubellite sighed, scooping her pet up.  
"Some gems are bad and want to harm others. Hematite is one of them." The room was silent.  
"...It's your turn John." Emerald prompted after a minute, trying to regain the previous happy air. John quickly took his turn before turning back to his thoughts. "And I'm _finally_ out" Rubellite exclaimed as she pulled a card that released her from where she was stuck.

They played games and talked for the rest of the evening, until nine'o clock came about and it was time for John to head to bed. Any attempts John made to bring the conversation back to the weekend had resulted in secretive looks between Rubellite and Emerald and no answers. "Don't forget, we've got more strifing practice in the morning." Emerald said, ruffling John's hair as he came back from pulling his pajamas on."Alright" He said, giving Emerald a quick hug. He went and gave Rubellite a hug before heading down the hall way to his bedroom. Topaz was still in his shed, so John couldn't give him a hug or bid him goodnight. Maybe he'd be in before John fell asleep. He flipped off his bedroom light and settled into bed under his ghost print covers. With a sigh, he thought back to the past few days. He _knew_ something was up, otherwise Rubellite and Emerald wouldn't be so secretive about it. He rolled over to face the window, looking out at the few stars he could see through the crack in the curtains. Really, why wouldn't they tell him? It was just a temple, what could be dangerous about that?  
A thought came to his mind; Hematite.  
Maybe he could get some information from the grouchy kidnapper. He knew right where the bubbles went; Underneath the house, in a cellar of sorts, there were several rooms, including the Gem's personal rooms, and the room where all the bubbled gems were sent. He'd been down there once or twice when he was younger. Though as to why it was underneath the house, he really had no clue.  
Just another question to ask.  
He would have to find a way to prevent Hematite from attacking him, and a way to get him back in the bubble afterwards. _"I guess I'll wait a few days, so I'll know more fighting moves... Maybe find a weapon..."_ He thought as he drifted off.

* * *

 **Somehow I forgot about Frigglish ._.  
How did I forget Frigglish.  
 _how did I forget the cat._**

 **And 8luh, I was trying for some fluff here, but my mind always wants to make it story driven X3P  
Hopefully writing this will make me better at the fluff/slice of life kinda stuff :33  
Thanks for reading!**

 **Adios! A3C's out 'til next week! *Ollies outie*  
Review?**


	10. Hammer Time

**Disclaimer; I own neither Homestuck nor Steven Universe. The SUstuck AU belongs to Ikimaru on Tumblr.**

"Hey, you ready John?" Rubellite asked John as she came into the kitchen. "You're strifing with me today." John had been strifing with Topaz and Emerald for the past few days, but he still hadn't had a chance to strife with Rubellite. "Are we going to use weapons today?" John asked excitedly, looking up from his breakfast. The past few days had been fists only; Rubellite had all jokingly dubbed them as 'Fistkind', what ever that meant. Rubellite shook her head.  
"I don't think so."  
"aww..."  
"Heeey, don't worry kiddo, I'm sure you'll get to use weapons soon. Maybe even your mother's Trident." This last part was said quietly, as Rubellite left the room to head outside. John finished his breakfast and set the bowl in the sink, quickly rinsing it out. He headed outside to where the Gems were waiting. Frigglish slipped out the door as John closed it, meowing. He sat down on the stoop, tail high in the air. The cat's pants still hadn't been found, so he was still wandering around in only a suit jacket. "Ready John?" Rubellite asked. "Yeah!" John shouted, running off the stoop into the yard. "Don't harm him." Topaz told Rubellite before turning to Emerald. "Pfft, I won't."

"Alright, you two can stop." Topaz called out as John deflected another blow from Rubellite. Strifing with Rubellite was far different than it was with Emerald and Topaz; They fought with Swords and guns, while Rubellite fought with her fists. More often John was blocking her than dishing out his own blows. John rubbed his arm gently; Rubellite had been more than a little enthusiastic at first, but she had eased up as the strife progressed.  
"I didn't get you too hard, did I?" Rubellite asked.  
"Nah, I'm fine." John said, shaking his head. It wasn't much more than a bruise.  
"Alright John, why don't you go grab a jacket?" Emerald said. "Huh? But... it's summer" "We're going somewhere that's a bit more chilly." Emerald explained as Topaz turned about to head to the gazebo. "Go grab your jacket, and meet us on the warp!" Emerald enthused as he turned to follow Topaz. John nodded and slipped back into the house, letting Frigglish back in as well. He grabbed his jacket and ran out of the house, slowing down once he entered the gazebo. The gems were waiting there for him, up on top of the Home Warp. John jumped up on it, wondering where they were headed to.

The warp stream faded out to reveal what looked like a long, smooth slab of rock. As the stream completely dissipated, John looked around, taking in his surroundings. Wait; were those clouds over there? Old, dilapidated pillars rose up from the ground, some of them fallen down, some intact with minimal weathering. John stepped off the warp as the gems did the same. His foot landed on unyielding, yellowed stone. He looked up as something tapped his shoulder. Topaz was standing behind him, one hand held out, holding a hammer.  
"Here." He said as John took it. "See if you can knock down one of the pillars." He instructed, pointing to one of the more intact ones. "But..." Before he could ask why, Rubellite rushed forward, summoning her gauntlet, smashing into a pillar. The rock groaned, hairline cracks worming their way through before expanding; The pillar toppled over with a harsh CRACK! Before landing on the ground in chunks.  
"And that's how it's done." Rubellite said, making a show of brushing her hands off. Topaz was silent for a moment before pointing to a different one.  
"Try aiming for the base." He said. John looked down at the hammer. When Topaz had handed it to him, he had set it down, as it was pretty heavy. He lifted it up off the ground an inch or so, then tried to walk it over to the pillar Topaz pointed at. Topaz watched as the boy made his way to the pillar and raise the hammer a little more.  
John struggled to lift it higher than his waist, but after a minute he managed to raise it high enough to take a swing at the base.  
It landed on the yellow stone with a dull _thunk,_ and one or two cracks wormed their way through the impact site. John let out a breath, and tried again, this time bringing the hammer up like a golf club and letting it fall back down. Good, he was letting the hammer do the brunt of the work. A few more whacks and John was breathing heavily, the pillar still standing. John set the hammer down, looking up at the pillar.  
 _"A few more hits should do it..."_ He took a deep breath and tried to raise the hammer again. "John." He lowered the hammer again and looked up at Topaz. "Hold it like this." He instructed, moving John's hands. "You won't have to swing as hard." John raised the hammer again, letting it swing back into the pillar. Topaz watched as John hit it again, while in the background Rubellite was sitting at the top of one of them, waving her arms and looking down at Emerald.  
"Hey, Why's John using a hammer? Why not a trident?" She shouted.. "Because I do not _have_ a trident." Topaz told her.  
"But I do happen to have a hammer, and that is a lot safer than a sword."  
Rubellite lept off the pillar, landing lightly on the ground. "Guess we'll have to make one for you to use until you can summon yours, John." Topaz leaned over and pushed on the pillar after John hit it again. It shifted slightly, creaking loudly. "One good hard hit here should do it." Topaz said, crouching down a little to point to the center of the dent. "Got it" John panted. He waited for Topaz to move, but Topaz only shifted to the side, one hand resting on the pillar. "You won't hit me." He said, the faintest of smiles on his face. John nodded slightly before turning his attention back to the hammer. He raised it as high as it would go, then let it slam back down with a resounding _THWACK._ It toppled backwards, crashing to the ground. "Alright John! you show that thing who's boss!" Rubellite enthused. "We'll have you taking down baddies in no time!" John smiled at the praise, and set the hammer down. "You want to see if you can take down another one?" Emerald shouted from across the platform. John shook his head. "Not yet! This hammer's heavy!" He yelled back.  
"I'll see if I can find a lighter one." Topaz said. John shook his head.  
"All I need to do is get stronger." He said with a smile. "That's the spirit John!"

* * *

 **Alright, so for the next couple weeks, I'll be posting shorter chapters.  
This way, I'll be able to spend more time on each chapter, instead of a rush to finish it on Wednesday :3  
After a couple weeks, hopefully they'll be nice, long, 5k+ word chapters :D**

 **Thanks for reading!  
*A3C Ollies Outie***

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 **2-5-23-1-18-5 20-8-5 2-12-9-14-4 4-18-1-7-15-14**


	11. Chapter 11

John let out a groan as he opened his eyes. Every last one of his muscles were protesting to any movement after yesterday. That hammer was heavy, and John was surprised he had been able to even use it yesterday. Right now it was sitting, abandoned, in the corner. He rolled over, then let out a yelp as he fell off the side.  
"John?" Came Emerald's voice through the door. "You alright?" John sat up, pushing blankets off of himself.  
"I'm alright. I just fell off my bed." He said, rubbing his eye. Emerald pushed the door open and stuck his head in.  
"I've got breakfast ready for you, so just come down to the kitchen when ever you're ready." Emerald said, pulling his head out of the door. John yawned before standing up, shedding the rest of the blankets. He heaved them back up onto his bed before heading to get dressed.

John went down to the kitchen a few minutes later, yawning again. "Hey, good morning Kiddo." Emerald said, setting a plate down on the table. "Rubellite and Topaz are out looking for Frigglish, so its just me and you until they get back."  
"Okay"  
"Did you sleep well?" John nodded before sitting down at the table.  
"I'm still sore from yesterday though." Emerald chuckled  
. "Yeah, you'll probably be sore till tomorrow. You did a lot yesterday." He said, sitting down. "That hammer is heavy" John said. "Ah, you'll get the hang of it." Emerald smiled.  
"And I'm sure with a few more weeks, you'll be lifting it like it's nothing and going on missions with us."  
"Yeah!" John smiled. "Could we visit that old temple again? It was really cool!" Emerald's smile was replaced with a look of confusion. "Old... Temple?" "Y'know, the one Hematite took me to?" Any remnants of a smile faded from Emerald's face.  
"Weeeelllll... It's... not really a temple, per-say..." "It looks like a temple though." John said, frowning.  
"It's more of a... home? Or a gathering place of sorts." Emerald explained. Something – Fear, Regret? - flitted over Emerald's face before being replaced with his normal happy look.  
"Do you want to play a game while we wait for Rubellite and Topaz to get back?" He asked, once again pushing the previous subject away. John shook his head after a moment. "I think I'll read some more of Colonel Sassacre's." He said. "Haven't you finished it?" Emerald asked. John shook his head again as he stood up. "It's a big book." He said, heading into the living room where the massive tome sat on the floor. He heaved it open; the cover landed on the floor with an audible thump. He really had no clue as to why the thing was so big. He moved to where his book mark was, and sat down to start reading. "John? I'll be down in my room if you need me." John looked up. Emerald was standing by the door. "If you need anything, you know where to find me." John made a sound of acknowledgment and nodded. Emerald nodded back and left the house. John sighed and stared down at the massive tome. Why wouldn't they just tell him? Did they just think he was too young to be told the truth? But why not just tell him? It couldn't be _that_ dangerous.  
About fifteen minutes after Emerald left, Rubellite and Topaz came back, Frigglish in hand. "-You silly kitty." Rubellite hummed as she walked through the door. Frigglish was on her shoulders again, meowing.  
"Oh! Good morning John. Did you sleep well?" John nodded; Frigglish lept off of Rubellite's shoulder, running off through the house. Rubellite sighed before turning towards John. "I slept well," John said. "Kinda sore from yesterday though." He said. "Well you're in luck, no practice today." Rubellite said. She morphed into a cat after a moment, another fluffy one, and trotted over to John. She purred, rubbing John's side as she jumped into his lap. "What's wrong?" She purred, looking up at John. "Huh?" Rubellite stared up at John. "You're quiet. You're not usually this quiet." She said, still intently staring. "...I guess I'm just being quiet today..?" He said, turning his head slightly. "...Where's Emerald?" Topaz asked. He still hadn't moved from his place by the door. "He's in his Room." John said, looking up at him. Topaz silently nodded, turning around. He stopped for a moment, mid-stride, before leaving the house. Rubellite rubbed her head against John's chin, pulling his attention back to her. "Really John, what's wrong? You're upset about something." She said. Concern filled her big round eyes. John shook his head.  
"Really Rubellite, I'm fine." He said. Rubellite sighed and jumped off of John's lap.  
"Alright. I'm going to go find Frigglish's pants." She said, giving John one last rub.  
"You just sit here, doin' what ever it was you were doing." She said, trotting towards the back of the house. John nodded before turning to the tome. ...Was there really any point in trying to read? He let out another little sigh and closed the book. Hopefully, with another week or so, he would be strong enough that he could take on Hematite and get some answers. A small part of him told him he should wait, the gems would probably tell him soon enough. The bigger part didn't want to wait.  
He stood up, and headed back to his bedroom. He went to the window and sat in the chair that was next it, staring out the window at the cloudy sky.

Darn secrets.

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 **6-1-3-5-20 19-9-24 20-23-5-12-22-5 3-21-20 5-9-7-8-20 2 9-19 14-15-20 1 6-18-9-5-14-4**


	12. Fusion

John looked up from his book as the door closed and Rubellite and Emerald came in. In one excited motion, Rubellite flopped on the couch and scooped John up into a hug. "Guess what!" She squealed excitedly. "what?" John asked once Rubellite eased up on her hug. "You're goin' on a mission!" She said, rubbing John's head. "Wha?" "Emerald and I managed to convince Topaz to let you go on a mission! Go get your hammer, we're heading out here in a few!" She said, letting John go. John hopped up, a smile on his face. He grabbed the heavy tool and toted it back to the living room. He set it down on the ground with a thump. "Hmm... It might be better to leave that here. After all, Rubellite and I will have our weapons." Emerald said, looking down at the hammer. John nudged it before ignoring the metal tool. Rubellite jumped up, and headed for the door, excitement radiating from her. "Are you ready to go John? Anything you need to do?" Emerald asked. "Nope." John said, shaking his head. "Well, then let's go!" Emerald said with a smile, turning to the door. John followed him out; Rubellite was already at the gazebo, hands on her hips and a smile on her face. Topaz appeared in the door of his shed. "Don't get into trouble." He said. "We won't! We'll be back before sundown, just like you said." Emerald told him with a dismissive wave of his hand. "John better come back this time." He started to close the door. "Don't forget about Scapolite." He said as he finished closing the door. A confused expression crossed John's face as they walked to the gazebo. "Who's Scapolite?" John asked as the Home Warp activated. Rubellite grabbed his foot and pulled him back down as he floated up. "Scapolite's the two of us, fused." "Fused?" John echoed. "Have we still not told you about fusion?" "You haven't." Rubellite flashed a smile at Emerald. "Let's show him."

The Warp took them to a wide, open plain – well, mostly open. Part of it was taken over by a huge thing buried in the ground. "Woah! What's that?!" John asked. "That's what we're heading to for the mission." Rubellite said, rubbing John's head. "There's a power source inside that Topaz wants us to retrieve. The whole thing should be shut down, so Topaz said we could take you along. Tally ho!" Emerald said, stepping off the rock. Rubellite jumped off, and a moment later John hopped off as well. The long, wild grass came up to his waist. He waded through it, shoving clumps aside with his hands from time to time. Hands grabbed him from behind, and moments later he was up on Rubellite's shoulders. "There you go buddy." She said.

They continued walking to the thing – perhaps a ship? - and stopped when they neared the hull. There was no door in sight. "How are we going to get in?" John asked as Rubellite set him down. "Well we either find the door..." "Or smash the side in!" Rubellite said, balling up one of her fists and hitting her other hand with it. "Ready?" She said, holding her hand out to Emerald. Emerald took her hand, and they began to dance; They synchronized their dancing to more reflect the other person's, while still retaining their own style. Rubellite and Emerald's gems began to glow as they neared one another, and their bodies were engulfed in a blinding white light as Emerald took Rubellite's hand and dipped her. John's eyes widened as the blob of light morphed into a fifteen foot tall person. "Well shucks, it's been a while!" The newcomer said, stretching two pairs of arms into the sky. "Well hello there John! I've been waiting to meet you for so long!" They said, bending down to John's level. "So, what do I need to do?" Scapolite asked, straightening up.  
"Oh!" John readjusted his glasses, and stepped away from the ship.  
"We need a hole in the side." He said, taking another step back. "Got it." Scapolite said, nodding. With a flash of light, Scapolite summoned Rubellite's gauntlet and Emerald's guns. With a grin, they crossed their arms, fusing the two weapons. At first, they simply looked like larger gauntlets; but Scapolite grinned wider, and the front end of the gauntlets shot forward, crashing into the ship's side. Scapolite waved the gauntlets away, then leaned down and moved some of the debris away. "Will that do?" They asked, stepping back. John nodded, still in awe. "Then I bid you goodbye, John." Scapolite said, bowing. "Until next time!" in a puff of smoke, Scapolite disappeared and was replaced by Rubellite and Emerald. They both took a step back, and bowed to one another, laughing. "And that John, is fusion." Emerald said, grinning. "That was so cool!" John enthused. "I know right? Now, let's go get that power source for Topaz." Rubellite said, cracking her knuckles.  
The three of them headed into the hole in the ship, stepping over the debris left on the ground.  
John looked around the space.  
The only light came from the hole Scapolite had torn in the side, leaving the hall to the left and right dark and foreboding. "You and John take the left, and I'll take the right." Rubellite said, turning down the hall. "Meet ya' back here!" Emerald gave her a nod, and headed down the left side. John followed, looking around.  
"So what does it look like?" He asked. "It's about this big, and it's green." Emerald said, holding his hands about two and a half feet apart. "It should be towards the belly of the ship." John followed Emerald through the remains of the ship, the only light coming through a few holes in the side, and a green beam of light from Emerald's gem. Aside from a few lizards, the place was empty. John followed Emerald further into the dusty ship, to where there were no more holes, leaving Emerald's gem as the only source of light. The two of them continued on until a big door stopped them in their tracks. "Hmm..." Emerald stepped forward, placing a hand on the door. "The power's out, so the pads won't work..." John took a step towards the door; With out the pale green light from Emerald's gem, it was probably a dark greyish color. He looked up at Emerald, who had taken a step back and hand his hand on his chin. "Can you shoot the hinges?" John asked. "I don't think it _has_ hinges, unfortunately." Emerald sighed. "We'll either need to go find Rubellite and get her to help, or find another door." Emerald turned around, motioning for John to follow him.

The two of them backtracked to the last split, and then took the path they hadn't yet gone down. A few holes dotted the hull, letting a little more light in. Emerald led them through the dark halls, sometimes having to retrace his steps to find the right way. Emerald stopped as we heard footsteps."Pfft, guess the place really wasn't big enough to warrant splitting up." Rubellite said as she came down the hall. "Guess not. Any sign of an opening to the ship's belly?""Not that I saw. But I just made a big loop around, so..." She shrugged. "Well, lets go see if that other door is open. If it isn't, we'll just break it down."

"And would you look at that, it's closed." Rubellite said, staring at the door in the dim light. "Guess we just have to bust it down." She feigned sorrow as she summoned her gauntlet. She and Emerald attacked it simultaneously, blasting the top of the door. They worked their way around, until it was no longer connected to the frame. "Will you do the honors John?" Rubellite asked, gesturing to the metal slab. John took a step forward, and reached up as high as he could on it; With a shove, it fell down with a crash and a bang. There was no light in this room other than the thin beam from Emerald's gem. Rubellite pulled John back as sound came from a corner of the room. "...Did Topaz say there was anything in here?" She whispered, moving John behind her. Emerald shook his head. "No." Rubellite took a step forward, her head angled to the place where the sound had come from. Something bounded out of the shadows, ran a pair of claws against Rubellite's thigh, and streaked down the hall. Rubellite swore, and ran a hand over the claw marks. "How did it get in there?" Emerald asked, bewildered. "Maybe it was in there when the ship went down." Rubellite said, stepping further into the room. "Where's the power source?" She asked. "It should be in the middle there." Emerald said, raising his hand to shed more light around the room. The beam glinted off something in the middle of the room. Rubellite headed further into the room, looking around to make sure nothing else was hiding in the shadows. She picked the stone up and tossed it in the air, expertly catching it. "Well we've got it, let's go." She said, turning back around.  
They turned back around and headed back the way they had come, John sandwiched in between the gems just in case the thing that had scratched Rubellite came back.

* * *

 **I apologize for the lack of a chapter last week; Lately I've been in a funk and haven't really known how to continue the story. (I've got ideas for further on, but the in-between chapters are rather nebulous to me :I) So rather than put something out there I don't like I decided to skip a week.  
HOPEFULLY, I'll be able to get back on track soon.**

 **A3C's out til next week, peace!**


	13. A Plan Gone Wrong

"Okay kiddo, be good while we're gone." Rubellite said, pulling John into a headlock and giving him a noogie. John slid out of her grip, smiling. "Alright Rubellite." He said. "Don't burn the house down!" Emerald said with a laugh as he left the house. In the past few weeks John had greatly improved with his hammer, and was even able to lift it up properly. "How would I even manage that?!" John yelled as the three of them hopped up on the warp. Emerald shrugged as the warp activated. He waited until they were gone, then headed back inside. If he wanted to, now was the time to slip down stairs and pop that bubble.  
He walked back to his room, retrieving his hammer. He hefted it up, swinging it a little. He quietly headed out of the house, the hammer slung over his shoulder. He walked around to the back, to where the cellar door was. It wasn't ever locked; it wasn't like any one would be able to get past the door below. He wasn't sure if he would be able to get past the door either, but the gems didn't look like they were going to give him the answers he wanted any time soon. He set the hammer down and opened the door, and quickly went down to the room below.  
The Door Room was well lit, most of the light coming from the door itself. Four stones were set in the middle of it, arranged in a square. The stone that corresponded with his mother's room was on the top, with Emerald's, Rubellite's and Topaz's arranged below hers. What was it that the gems did to get in? He set the hammer down and lifted his shirt up to reveal the sky blue gemstone that sat on his stomach. When ever the Gems did something, summoned their weapons, pulled something out of their gems, went into their rooms, their gems glowed. John's never had, except for maybe a very feeble glow when he had tried really hard to summon his weapon. He sighed, and stared at the door. "Door, open!" He said. Nothing happened. Maybe the door to his mother's room had broken when she had died? He set his head against the cool stone with another sigh. Was he ever going to get any answers? "Come on door... please let me in?" There was a brief flash of light, and John tumbled forward onto something soft and springy. He pushed himself back up to his feet, and took around the room. It looked... like a kitchen? The Gems had told him that his mother had enjoyed baking, but... why was there a kitchen in her room if there was a kitchen upstairs in the house? He stood up, and looked around the room; Then, realizing he didn't have his hammer, he turned back around and grabbed it. Just in time too, it seemed, as the door closed right as he pulled it in. He set the hammer back down, and took another look around the kitchen. Everything had a bluish cast to it, and the tiles at the further end faded into pale blue clouds. He knew Rubellite's room didn't look like this; Her room was mostly sheer rock and random things she had collected over the years. Now he just had to find a way to the Containment Room, and he could get some answers... hopefully. He step forward, heading for the clouded section.  
The blue clouds were poofy and bounced a little as John stepped onto them. This part... was just clouds. He couldn't see more than thirty feet or so out, as more of the clouds built up and obscured any view of the walls. Other than the room leading out of the kitchen, there were no other doors. How was he supposed to get to the Containment Room? There were only four stones, so somehow they were getting to it from their rooms. He set the hammer down, and stepped forward to see if he could look through the clouds at all. If anything, more clouds puffed up and obscured his view more. "Come on room, I need to get to the Containment Room!" He yelled, looking around. A few clouds floated out of the way, to reveal a door. John ran for it, hand wrapped around the handle of his hammer. There was no visible handle, so John just pushed on it. With a little force, it opened. He stepped through into the room beyond.

...  
This was not the Containment Room.  
John wasn't sure of where he was. This room was circular with a big tube of some sort coming up through the middle. The floor ended about four feet away from the tube. He stepped forward, leaning out over it. The semi-familiar sight of the Containment Room greeted him, albeit at a different angle. The drop wasn't big enough to harm him, right? He dropped the hammer down; it landed with a dull thunk, and he sat down and swung his legs out over the ledge. He took a deep breath, and hopped off the ledge. He landed next to his hammer, the soles of his shoes slapping against the pale stone floor. He grimaced at the pain and looked around. This was definitely the Containment Room; Ecru colored stone, and tons of bubbles.  
They spread out for who knew how far, with the most recently bubbled clustered towards the door on the side. He looked at a few near him; There was the gem from the dog beast from a few months ago, there was the power source-

And there was Hematite.  
The grey bubble stone sat a few feet away from the door, motionless. John set the hammer down, and grabbed it. The yellow bubble shimmered, but didn't pop. He poked it, and his finger hit unyielding material. He placed his hands on the sides, and squeezed. With a good deal of force, the bubble popped, and Hematite's Gem fell to the ground. It sat there for a few seconds, then lit up and floated up off the ground. John stepped back and grabbed the hammer as Hematite's body reformed in a flash of light, and fell back to the ground. "Oh yeah, stab me in the gut stupid head! Totally fair." He growled, standing up and brushing unseen dirt off his legs. He looked up and paused, staring at John. "..." John swallowed and readjusted his grip on his hammer. "Alright Hematite, I want some answers." He said, trying to look brave. Hematite stared at John for another moment, then laughed. "Those Rebels would tell you anything, so now you're turning to me?" He smiled nastily. "Well, thanks for letting me out, but I won't be helping you." He said. He shook his head and turned around, looking for the door. He stopped at the sight of all the bubbles, shoulders drooping. "What the f..." He mumbled, looking around. John raised his hammer. "Why do you keep calling the Gems 'Rebels'?" He asked "I told you, I'm not answering you, runt." Hematite told him. He took a small step forward, and then set off running through the swarms of bubbles. John dropped the hammer and ran after him. Hematite's legs were much longer, so John quickly lost him. He ran around for a minute, his vision obscured by the clouds of bubbles, before he finally spotted him.  
Hematite was staring at a bubble, one hand stretched toward it. At the sound of John's footsteps, he snapped out of his trance and grabbed the bubble, crushing it. He scooped the gemstone up before it could hit the ground. "You dropped your hammer, stupid." He said, smirking. John inwardly groaned as he realized he had. Now how was he supposed to get any answers from Hematite? Hematite would just shove him aside and walk out like he had last time. But Hematite didn't look like he was going to attack now; He seemed more intent on the gem he had just let out than John. Maybe he could run back and grab his hammer... But then Hematite could just circle around and head out the door while John was searching for him. The gemstone in Hematite's hand began glowing, and floated up a bit. It floated nearly up to the ceiling before dropping back down, rapidly reforming into a huge, glowing beast. It gave a pained roar, and shrank down into a more humanoid form crouching on the ground. It breathed in great, heaving breaths. After a moment it shoved itself to its feet, staring at Hematite and John.  
Two big straight horns poked out of her red hair, and a pair of shades perched on her nose. She took a small step forward, growling a little. "Pyrope, it's me-!" Pyrope lunged forward and slapped Hematite across the face. "Y34H, COM3 B4CK NOW! 4FT3R W3'V3 4LL B33N 4TT4CK3D 4ND H4LF TH3 T34M SH4TT3R3D!" She snarled; Her voice was high pitched and sounded strained, like it was hard for her to speak. "YOU 1D1OT, WHY W3R3 YOU GON3 SO LONG?!" Hematite took a step back and opened his mouth "Pyrope I-" "1 DON'T W4NT TO H34R 1T! WH3R3 4R3 W3?" She snarled, her shoulders dropping down a little. "We're beneath the rebel base. We're getting out of here before they find us." Hematite said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards the door. John ran back to the door before they could get to him. He grabbed his hammer and slid into a stance in front of the door. He couldn't let them leave! If they got out, what would he tell the Gems?  
It didn't take Pyrope and Hematite long to get to the door.  
"MOV3." Pyrope said, her mouth twisting into a snarl. Her sharp teeth glinted in the dim gold light. "...No." John said, raising the hammer. "I can't let you leave." He said. Pyrope was still for a moment. She grinned nastily, and lowered her head a little. "H3H3H, DO YOU TH1NK YOU C4N STOP M3?" She gave a hard sniff. "YOU C4N'T B34T M3, YOU R3B3LS 4R3 JUST B1G COW4RDS." In a flash, she lunged forward, ramming John in the stomach with her head. Her horn grazed John's cheek as he was thrown back against the door, His head hitting the stone with a thunk. "SHOULD'V3 MOV3D, CR1M1N4L." Pyrope whispered, crouching down beside John. She straightened back up and turned around to face Hematite. The red circular gemstone in her back glittered, revealing sharp, jagged cracks all along it. "L3TS GO, H3M4T1T3." The edges of John's vision started going black, and the last thing he saw was Pyrope turning around, light glimmering off of her red shades. 

* * *

**Shorter chapter this week, but an important one :33**

 **Say, am I being descriptive enough? I know that sometimes I mean to write something, but I kinda preempt myself and wind up not writing it, because I thought I already had :T  
**

 **Thanks for reading! Purrhaps you could take a minute, and leave a comment/review? I would love to get some feed back :D  
** **I'm out till next week, adios! *Ollies outie***


	14. Chapter 14

"John! John, wake up!" John gave a low moan as he blinked his eyes open. He had a splitting headache, and his body felt stiff. He opened his eyes to see Rubellite's face, etched with worry. "John, why are you in the Containment Room? What happened?" She asked hurriedly, helping John to his feet. He stood still for a moment, blood pounding in his head. It took him another moment to remember what had happened; Letting Hematite out, Hematite running and letting another Gem out, and that Gem ramming him into the wall. "John?" Emerald placed his hand on John's shoulder, crouching down so he was face to face with the boy. "Are you alright?" He asked. John nodded. Aside from the amount of trouble he was going to get into, he was okay. "..John." John looked up at Topaz, who was further away, looking around the room. "... Where's Hematite." He asked, his voice soft. His tone was not a happy one. John gulped and shifted a little. "I..." He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times. "... I let him out." He mumbled, unwilling to meet Topaz's eye. "...Why?" john stared at the floor, silent. "John, why?" "...I wanted answers." he mumbled. "I can't hear you John." John took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and looked up at Topaz. "I wanted answers." "So you released a dangerous rogue gem? Why didn't you just come to us?" "I tried to! But you guys just shrugged it off and said you'll 'Tell me when I'm older'! I'm not seven anymore! I wanna know why Hematite called you Rebels!" He flung his arms out towards the bubbles that surrounded them. "And are these all Gems like you!? Why are they in bubbles?!" He asked angrily. Topaz silently stared at John, his face blank behind his black glasses. "What, are you just gonna silently stare at me!?" He dropped his hands back to his sides. He stared at Topaz, looking for any emotion at all; There was none as he spoke. "...Go to your room John." He said after a minute, turning slightly to look at the bubbles. "No." John growled back. "We'll talk in the morning." John didn't move, clenching his fists. Topaz stared at him from the corner of his yellow-orange eyes. "John..." Rubellite gently tugged on his sleeve. "Come on John, let's go upstairs.." She said. "You've had a long day... and you've got a nasty bump on your head. So let's head upstairs, hmm?" She asked. John silently pulled away from her, and went to stand by the door. He followed her out silently.  
John didn't stay at home long. Before Emerald and Topaz came up from the Containment Room, he left the house, heading out into town. He knew that that would make Topaz more angry, but at that moment he didn't care. He didn't really care where he went, he just wanted out of the house. He had always known that the gems weren't human, but he never knew just what they were. And the broken gems... Why were they under the house? What was with the whole 'Rebel' thing? John kicked a rock out into the street, and shoved his hands into his pockets. He hadn't seen Jade in a while. Maybe he could go find her house, and spend the afternoon with her. The only problem there was that he didn't know where her house was; He knew it was out beyond the town borders, but that was it. And that was a fair length to walk. But it wasn't like he wanted to go home at the moment. After a moment's though, he adjusted his direction, to head in the general direction he knew Jade's home was in.

"We have kinda kept him in the dark..." Emerald said. After checking the house and the yard for John, the three of them had headed back inside to the kitchen. Topaz was at the table, one hand on his forehead. "...Humans are frail Emerald." He said. "...I don't want John to be in danger." He sighed. "John wouldn't get hurt, we'd be there to prevent that." "You weren't able to protect him when Hematite kidnapped him." Topaz said quietly, lowering his hand. "We weren't expecting that Topaz. It was a one in a million chance." Rubellite protested. "It still happened."

John continued down the street; a light drizzle of rain had started up, plastering his hair to his head. There was no side walk, so he was tromping along the side in ruts and ditches. He was careful not to stray into the road. He had been walking for a half hour, and still no sign of her home, or a mail box marked 'Harley' or anything like that. Was it possible she lived really far out? But then why would she have walked that far into town? He walked past a corner; Along the length of it were a few drive ways. He looked at each of the mailboxes; Yes! The last one said Harley. He turned down the dirt drive way, thankful for the trees that covered it. He shook his head, sending stray water droplets everywhere. He continued down the road, head down, until something cold against his forehead stopped him. He looked up to stare straight down the barrel of a gun.

The man behind the gun coughed. "Who might you be?" He asked. A couple of dogs barked, and Harley ran past the man and knocked John over. He licked John's face as the other dog, a white puppy with longer fur, padded up. "Harley stop!" John cried, pushing the dog off of himself. Harley yapped, prancing around John. The man lowered his gun a little. "Come with me." He said, turning around and setting his gun across his shoulder. John slowly stood up, and followed the older man down the pathway "...Are you Jade's Grandpa?" John asked after a few minutes. "Hm? Yes, I am her Grand Father. If you know Jade, then you must be John." He said, twirling the end of his thick mustache. John nodded. "Well, what brings you all the way out here, in the rain I might add!" "I wanted to see Jade." He said, pulling his hand away from Harley's cold nose. "well you're in luck, she's still at home."  
The two of them walked across the wet dirt, the two dogs barking and chasing one another. Jade's Grandpa informed him that the smaller dog's name was Becquerel. "Harley ran off one day, and came back a week later with him in tow. Bec was skittish at first, but he eased in quickly." He said before nodding with his head to the house. Harley barked once and ran towards the unusual house. The bottom half was that of a normal house, but a tower topped with a sphere rose from the top. Mr. Harley opened the door. John followed him in, looking around the quaint room. Two couches sat in the middle, facing toward the fireplace at the opposite end. Mr. Harley clicked his tongue, and pointed to a set of stairs. "Harley, take John to Jade." At the mention of Jade, Harley's ears perked up, and he dashed toward the stairs. At a little encouragement from Mr. Harley, John followed the dog. Harley led him up into the tower, the two of them closely followed by Becquerel.  
Harley bounced up the stairs, stopping at a door. He scratched at it, huffing.  
There was a quiet shuffle inside, and after a moment the door opened.  
"John? What are you doing here?!" She laughed, darting forward to hug him.  
"It's been a bit, so I figured I'd come visit!" John said as she let go.  
"Yay! Now I can show you around the woods, come on!"

* * *

 **Life certainly has a way of slowing things down, darnet.  
** **Sorry about how late this was! I've got a bit more of an idea of where I'm going now, so it should speed up a smidge _hopefully (If life doesn't get in the way)_**

 **At guest: Yeah I couldn't find any fanfic for this either XP  
And I don't plan on giving up yet!**

 **I'm out til next time! *Ollies outie***


	15. Pillars and Deer

"Pyrope... What's wrong with you?" Hematite asked, following the red skinned gem. The two of them had fled from the rebel's base, using warps to get as far away as possible.  
"WRONG? TH3R3'S NOTH1NG WRONG." The gem replied, looking back to stare at him. Hematite reached forward and grabbed her arm. The two of them had high tailed it away from the rebels home, taking the warp to the citadel. Pyrope was wandering around; Hematite was following her closely.  
"There _is_ something wrong! You don't act like this!" He snarled, pulling her around. "4ND HOW WOULD YOU KNOW? YOU W3E3 GON3 FOR Y34RS. TH3 R3B3LS WON H3M4T1T3, 4ND TH3 SQU4D W4S CRUSH3D. SOM3 L34D3R YOU W3R3, L3FT PR3TTY QU1CKLY D1DN'T YOU." She growled back, wrenching her wrist out of Hematite's grasp. Hematite stood still as she continued walking; The light caught the gemstone on her back, illuminating the hairline fractures through out. Hematite scowled before starting to follow her again.  
"W3 N33D TO F1ND 4 COMMUN1C4T1ON HUB." Pyrope snarled, heading down a hallway.  
"You're going the wrong way." Hematite said. "It's this way."  
"1 TH1NK 1 KNOW WH3R3 TH3 COMMUN1C4T1ON HUB 1S, H3M4T1T3." Hematite turned around, ignoring the small snarls from Pyrope.  
The communication hub was right where it always was! Just a few halls off from the Statue Hall.  
He quickly found it, looking around at the disarray it was in. Something must have gotten in here; several of the crystals were cracked, and a few lay on the floor, sitting amongst more shards. He kicked at one, swearing. There was no way he could fix this! He wasn't some effin' Beryl! So unless there was another communication hub he didn't know about, Pyrope's plan, what ever it was, was ruined. His shoulders sagged, and he sat down on the nearest rocky outcropping. This shouldn't have happened. They were supposed to beat the rebels back, and The Diamonds would've continued ruling like they always had. But instead he had been beaten back into his gem by a rebel, and they had been shunted off the planet. In a fit of anger, he summoned his sickles, and slashed at the oblong crystals. One splintered and fell to the ground. "H3M4T1T3 W3 N33D3D TH4T!" Pyrope screeched as she appeared in the door. Guess she had been following Hematite after all.  
"The effin' thing was busted already Pyrope! And it's not like we could fix it without a Beryl anyway." Hematite growled at her, kicking at a shard. Pyrope shoved past Hematite and looked at the broken down hub. She flicked one, making it _ping_ "W3 JUST N33D MOR3 OF TH3S3 CRYST4LS, DUH." She said, turning around and leaving the room. "1'M SUR3 TH3R3 4R3 SOM3 AROUND H3R3."

* * *

"Just how much land do you have?!" John asked as Jade led him through yet _another_ section of forest. "Hmm... I'm not really sure!" The girl said, looking back at John with a smile on her face. The light drizzle from earlier had stopped, so Jade had offered to show John around.  
"I haven't even really explored all of it yet, mostly because Bec and Harley don't really seem to want me to go too far from home." At the sound of his name, the puppy's head appeared from some bushes. He snorted, blowing a stray leaf off his shiny black nose before heading back into the bushes. Jade laughed.  
"I think Bec picked up Harley's protectiveness!" She said, pushing aside some more branches. She stopped mid step, momentarily freezing before motioning for John to come forward quietly. John looked over Jade's shoulder to see a doe standing in the middle of a clearing. She stared at the two of them with liquidy eyes, stiff bristles of grass hanging from her mouth. One moment she was there, the next moment she was bounding away. Jade looked at John, making sure he had seen the doe before moving forward.

* * *

"1 TH1NK TH4TS 3NOUGH."  
Hematite and Pyrope had made numerous trips out from the citadel, searching for other communication hubs.  
They hadn't managed to find a working one, but the two they had located had had plenty of uncracked crystals.  
"What the eff are we even doing?" Hematite asked, nudging one of the blue rods. "W3'R3 R3BU1LD1NG TH3 HUB, STUP1D. W3R3 GO1NG TO CONT4CT HOM3WORLD, C4LL FOR H3LP." Pyrope said, hefting up end of a rod. She stopped, a shudder passing through her body. She snorted, shaking her head. "Pyrope, _what's wrong."_ Hematite growled, taking a step forward. "1 TOLD YOU, NOTH1NG. M4YB3, 1NST34D OF 4SK1NG STUP1D QU34ST1ONS 1'V3 4LR34DY 4NSW3R3D, YOU COULD L3ND 4 H4ND?" She asked, her voice terse and clipped. Hemetite sat still.  
"Move, I'll get move the effin' thing." He said, shaking his head.  
"WH4T?"  
"I said move. Just tell me where the eff to put the thing." He growled, pulling her hands off of the rod.  
"H3M4-"  
"Shut up and tell me where." He said. She instructed him where to put it, and he strained to lift it and place it where she pointed. Why the hell couldn't he have been a _normal_ Hematite? Twice the size and twice the strength, but he had to have emerged early, stuck as a runt for the left of his life.  
Pyrope tried to help a few times, but Hematite made her stay where she was. As time went on, Pyrope became more and more agitated, occasionally shaking her head and making small growls.  
"4 L1TTL3 TO YOUR L3FT- TH3 OTH3R W4Y! MOV3, L3T M3 DO 1T." She growled, shunting Hematite aside to shove a rod into place. "ON3 MOR3 SHOULD F1X 1T." She said, moving back a little to survey what Hematite had put together. Up top was a little more disheveled than she would've liked, but there was no time to worry about that. They had a planet to contact.

* * *

 **And thus, I don't address Hematite and Pyrop for another fifty chapters :P (JK!)  
Anyway, joking aside, thank y'all for following/favoriting so far! That's really the only reason I've kept on with the story =^W^=  
See 'ya next week! *Ollies away***

 _ **Post scriptum: The communication hub is pretty much a miniature version of the hub in Cry For Help :B**_


	16. Chapter 16

By the time John returned home, the sun was going down, lighting the world up in purple, yellow and orange hues. He was not looking forward to going home, and definitely not looking forward to the talk that was certainly coming. But he didn't want to ask Jade if he could stay the night, as then he would have to explain what had happened. Plus, the gems would probably have started looking for him at that point, if they hadn't already. Hopefully they'd still be out looking for him, and he could just slip into bed without them noticing.  
By the time he got back to town, the sun had finished slipping below the horizon, and the street lamps had come on. He waved to the few people who were still out; Luckily, none of his family members were out and about. Though that probably meant they were still at home.  
When he got home he saw that all the lights were out, except for the kitchen light.  
He sighed and pushed the door open, resigning himself to his fate.  
Frigglish rushed out of the kitchen, meowing.  
John shushed the cat and rubbed his head, producing the opposite of the desired affect as Frigglish only meowed louder. When he looked up, Rubellite was standing at the kitchen door. He stood still silently as she came over to him. In a flash, she had him wrapped in a tight hug.  
"We were worried about you, John." She said, burying her face in his black hair.  
"Emerald and Topaz are still out looking for you." John remained silent as she continued to hug him. "We were planning on telling you at some point... but we weren't sure of when. Well, Topaz wasn't." She said, pulling away a little and ruffling his hair. She let John go, and leaned down to pick Frigglish up.  
The grey cat purred, bumping his head against her chin. Rubelllite turned around, motioning for John to follow her as she went into the kitchen.  
He waited a moment before following her; Rubellite nodded towards a couple of chairs at the table as she set Frigglish down.  
John sat down in one of them while Rubellite sat in the other. "So I'm pretty sure you know at this point we're not human." She said, sighing and picking up a mug that sat on the tabletop. "And if you didn't, well I just let the cat out of the bag." She said, taking a sip of her drink. John sat quietly, waiting for her to continue. "So where'd you go?"  
"...I went out to Jade's."  
"Did you have fun?"  
"...Yeah. We saw some deer."  
"I'm doing it again, aren't I. Changing the subject so I don't have to explain."  
John nodded.  
Rubellite flicked a stray lock of hair out of her face.  
"So no, we're not human. A bunch of us came from a place called _homeworld._ We left from there to here to... colonize.  
But the colonization... process was hurting the planet, and your mother wasn't happy about that. Like really not happy. So the three of us, plus others who were dissatisfied with the Diamonds, joined together and mounted a rebellion.  
We won but... we lost a lot of people. That's a pretty watered down version of it, but that's the gist."  
"... Three?" John repeated, scowling. "Hm?" "You said three. If you count Mom as well, you get four." "...Yeah. ...Emerald joined later."  
Frigglish meowed from the back of the couch, making Rubellite shift in her seat. "So you're rebels from another planet... Which I guess kinda makes me some sort of hybrid." John said, scowling. "...I guess so." Rubellite asked, swirling the liquid in her mug around.  
"So what are you going to do?" "huh?" "What are you going to do? Head back out, or stay around here?"  
"...I'll stay here."

* * *

"TH1S 1S PYROP3 F4C3T 7L4I, CUT 413, 4TT3MPT1NG TO M4K3 CONT4CT W1TH HOM3WORLD.  
MYS3LF 4ND 4NOTH3R 4R3 TR4PP3D ON 4 R3B3L PL4N3T.  
PL34S3 S3ND H3LP."

Pyrope repeated.  
Hematite watched her as she took her hands off the Communication Hub. She sighed, and rubbed her forehead.  
"TH3R3'S ST1LL NO 4NSW3R." "Maybe it's not working." Hematite growled.  
"M4YB3 YOU SHOULD SHUT UP." She growled back.  
Hematite hissed but didn't retort. He was tired and Pyrope was angry.  
Pyrope made a circle around the Hub before trying again.  
She repeated the phrase again, like she had been for the last few hours.  
"PL34S3 S3ND H3- GRRROAR!"  
The last part of her sentence was swallowed up as she let out an animalistic growl. She arched her back and snarled again. "STUP1D- GRAH!" She growled, clutching her head as she took a step back.  
"Pyrope?" Hematite leaned off the wall, concerned. Pyrope shook her head again before sitting down hard on the ground. "What's- Hey!" Pyrope reached out and scratched Hematite as he came over. "What the?!" Pyrope rose up again, crouched down so her hands were on the floor.  
"Shit, no. Pyrope, stop this. Hold on, we're going to be going home remember? _Just hold on for a little longer!"_ Pyrope snarled and shook her head, pulling back away from Hematite. He watched in horror as her body started glowing, mutating in a long, sinuous form.  
The glasses slid off of her face, dissipating into sparkles as they hit the ground.

With a bellow, the corrupted gem took a step forward. There was no hint of Pyrope in its glassy red eyes;  
There was only pure rage.

* * *

 **I don't like this chapter.**  
 **Like I really do not like it :I**  
 **Hence why it's so late to go up.  
(Sorry about that y'all.) **

**Also, I think I might do some rewriting on this? I think maybe I was kinda excited to write this and went a little too fast on some stuff. What do y'all think?  
Once again, thank you fur all your likes, and follows! *Ollies away***


	17. Chapter 17

It was late when Emerald and Topaz came back; John had already gone to bed, tired after a long day. Once Rubellite had told them, Topaz went to his shed. Emerald sat down next to Rubellite, sighing.  
"..Did we do the right thing?" Rubellite asked, staring at her empty cup.  
"Telling John?" Emerald placed his hand on her shoulder.  
"I'm sure we did; He was bound to get curious at some point, or something would have happened."  
"How's Topaz?"  
"No clue. He was mostly quiet the whole evening... Like always."  
"...Where do you think that Pyrope got to?" Emerald shook his head; "The forest maybe? I doubt it could have gone very far."  
"Unless it had wings."  
"Then and only then. Is John asleep yet?"Rubellite shrugged."Probably."  
Emerald stood up, stretching his arms out a little.  
"I'm going to go say goodnight." Rubellite nodded, folding her arms together as Emerald left the room.

* * *

This was not happening. Hematite though as he rushed down hall after hall. Pyrope thundered after him, roaring angrily.  
Her red eyes were trained on him; Her claws clattered again the cold, grey stone, echoing down the dead halls. Hematite ducked into a collapsed hall, casting aside rubble to scramble in deeper. A ruby red set of claws followed after him, but was unable to dig in deep enough to grab him. Pyrope growled, sounding even more broken than before. "COM333 OUT, TRRR41TOR." She lowered her head to the hole, Her glassy red eye lighting it up. Her voice cracked and glitched as she spoke. "JUST1C3 W1LL B3 S3RV3D..." She hissed. She shoved her claws back into the hole, growling again. "TR41TORS." She gripped some of the rocks. "W1LL NOT. 3SC4P3!" She yelled, breaking the wall away. Hematite flattened himself against the wall, but Pyrope's claws were long enough to pull him away from it. "Pyrope stop!"He yelled, pushed against her claws.  
Pyrope lowered her head to level with Hematite's. A long, low growl came from her chest as she turned around.

* * *

John awoke with a start.  
Sunlight filtered through his window, leaving shadows on his cover.  
He quickly tossed the covers aside, and got dressed.  
Frigglish meowed as he pushed the door ajar; He quickly made his way over to John's bed, and jumped up on it.  
He purred loudly as he butted his head against John's arm.  
"'Morning Frigglish." John said, crouching down to pet the cat's head.  
"I bet you don't have a worry in the world, do you? Except maybe that suit." He gently picked the cat up, who purred and sniffed John's shirt before rubbing his head on it.  
John gave a small grin before leaving his room.

John headed down to the kitchen, quietly humming a song.  
Frigglish meowed and wriggled his way out of John's arms, landing on the floor in a graceful heap. John fixed himself breakfast while Frigglish ate out of his food bowl.  
John sat down, chewing his cereal.  
Rubellite, Emerald and Topaz were no where to be seen; Topaz was probably still in his shed, tinkering with something. Rubellite and Emerald were likely out, searching for Hematite and the gem that had been let out. He wanted to help look; But would Topaz even let him? It wouldn't help to have him even more mad.

Frigglish meowed again, the bell on his collar jingling as he ran out of the room. "G'morning Frigglish."Rubellite's tired voice said.  
The bell jingled as the cat was picked up and Rubellite came into the kitchen. Rubellite gave a small smile when she saw John.  
John smiled back as she sat down.  
"Sleep well?" She asked, petting her cat. John nodded.  
"Good... Topaz knows you're back, and so does Emerald. ...Topaz doesn't want you leaving the house today. Doesn't want you wandering off again."  
Frigglish wriggled of Rubellite's hands, meowing.  
"..So where'd you go this morning?"  
John asked after a quiet moment. "Topaz sent us out to look for that gem. And Hematite, but looking for the other one is a bit more urgent right now."  
"Why?"  
"She's... Broken. Her gem was cracked." Rubellite hesitated before continuing. "And that means she's unstable. Like those monsters we fight. So if we're not careful, she'll become like of them, and it will be harder to get her back into a bubble." She said, folding her arms together and resting her head on top of them.  
"Oh." John stared at the table for a moment. "Have you checked those ruins?" He asked. "Hmm?" "Those ruins you found me in. Maybe it went there?" "...Maybe. I doubt Hematite would go back there, but we'll be sure to check."

* * *

 **This too me way to long to write, I'm so sorry y'all ;w;  
I'm keeping this chapter shorter so I can upload it sooner.**

 **Guest: I'm not 100% certain what that type of spacing is, but I will try my best to add some more space. (I don't really notice it as I read a lot in tons of different formats .m.)**

 **As always, reviews are appreciated! I enjoy hearing from y'all :3**


	18. Caught between a Gem and a Hard Place

"We'll be back soon!" Rubellite called, waving to John.  
"See you later!" John said, waving from just inside the door.  
By 'not to leave the house' Topaz meant not even a foot outside the door.  
Emerald shot a few finger guns at him, before hopping up onto the Home Warp.  
"See ya later John! We'll have those two back in a jiffy!" He yelled as Rubellite activated the warp.

She gently punched his shoulder as the blue stream carried them off. "We don't even know if they're there!"  
"Well even if they're not, where else could they be? I doubt they would go too far from a hub, or some other place with old gem junk." Emerald said with a shrug.  
"Doesn't mean they're here." Rubellite replied as the warp deposited them inside the grey stone walls of the Citadel. She shuddered, looked around. "Let's just search quickly." She said, white light engulfing her. Her body morphed into a sleek cat as she started down the room.  
Emerald followed after her, pulling out his weapons.  
They exited the warp room, heading out into the main hall.

* * *

Emerald let out a low whistle.  
Part of the hall had been torn apart, chunks of stone and colored inlays throw haphazardly around.  
A gem – whole or corrupted – had certainly been here.  
"Yeesh, someone was pissy." Rubellite said, pawing at a chunk of gold. "Tore the whole panel off."  
Emerald nodded. "I don't think it was the Hematite – he didn't have claws, did he?" He asked, picking up a chunk.  
Its inlay glittered dully, the dusty covering preventing its true tones from showing through.  
"Unless he was corrupted. Though I doubt he was, unless he went cliff diving or something."  
"More likely the other one." Rubellite replied matter of factly. "That one _was_ corrupted. Probably mutated into something with really big claws."  
She leapt onto a rock, tail jittery as she looked around.  
"Guess they left quickly. - No signs of them, other than the rubble." She hopped back down, landing quietly on the grey floor.  
"Hmm.. If I were a Hematite, where would I be..." Emerald mused, walking the opposite way Rubellite was headed.  
"You'd probably be part of The Ol' Batter Witches' army, hun." Rubellite said. "And then we probably would have had bubble you as well." She grumbled, sniffing at the ground.  
"Like I'd join that gremlin's army." Emerald laughed. "I'd have seen Kyanite and you, and joined you ladies in a heartbeat."  
"Emerald, where are you going? The communication hub is this way."  
"I'm going to go search the other warps. Check around those – Rubellite, are you okay?" Emerald said, turning around to catch sight of his friend.  
Rubellite was puffed up, her back arched.  
She hissed, her body brightening as she changed into something bigger.  
Over her shoulder, Emerald could see what she was snarling at – The Pyrope.

* * *

Thick lines of drool poured from her mouth – it widened into a snarl, as a rumble emanated from the beast's chest.  
She towered over both of them, her pale red scales glinting in the low light.  
"R3B3LS – TR41TORS - _SCUM_ " She rumbled, taking a step forward. "1 WOULDN'T 3XP3CT MUCH FROM 4 LOWLY 3M3R4LD – BUT 4 RUB3L1TT3?" She gave a shudder. "WHY WOULD 4 RUB3LITT3 R3B3L? THOUGH 1 SUPPOS3 WH4TS DON3 1S DON3..."  
Pyrope smiled.  
"4ND JUST1C3 W1LL B3 S3RV3D..."  
She shot forward with surprising speed, letting out a loud roar.  
Rubellite dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the enraged Gem.  
Emerald shot at her, most of the bullets narrowly passing by its head.  
A few made contact, but didn't go far into her armor.  
"P1T1FUL." The claws swiped over Emerald, catching him by the shoulder and sending him across the room.  
"4ND YOU -" She turned back to Rubellite.  
"F1GHT L1K3 4 G3M, NOT L1K3 ON3 OF TH3S3 M1S3R4BL3 C4RBON1T3S." She pounced, landing right where Rubellite had been a moment ago.  
Before she could go any farther, Pyrope slammed a foot onto her back, pinning her down.  
"HMMMMM... 1 SUPPOS3 1 SHOULD G1V3 YOU 4 _F41R_ TR14L, 3V3N 1F YOU D1D R3B3L." She lowered her head, and smiled. "4FT3R 4LL, 1 D1D G1V3 H3M4T1T3 ON3."  
Rubellite scoffed. "If by a 'Fair' trail you mean you'll flip a coin, look at YOUR side of the encounter and deem us guilty? No... thank... you!" She snarled, biting and clawing at her captor's foot.  
Shots fired, and plinked off of her armor again.  
"TH4T." Pyrope lifted Rubellite off the ground, and turned around.  
"1S 4 TR14L. NOT TH4T YOU WOULD UND3RST4ND TH4T, _SOLD13R."_ Rubellite morphed from a tiger into a smaller cat, falling through the hand and onto the floor. Pyrope snarled at losing her quarry, and wove around trying to grab her again.

* * *

Rubellite dove under a pile of rubble, wedging herself as far under as possible. The Pyrope was a _lot_ bigger than they had anticipated.  
And evidently bent on serving 'Justice', which was not a good thing.  
There wasn't anyway to contact Topaz, which was a real bummer, because a three way fusion would have been very helpful.  
Emerald was on the other side of the room... if she could get over there, the two of them could fuse and _then_ they could beat their enemy.  
But how was she going to get over there?  
Her legs weren't _near_ as long as her adversaries, and even if she morphed into something bigger, there was no way to be sure she could get over there in time.  
She'd just have to take the risk.  
With a quick intake of breath, she rushed out from under the rubble.

* * *

 **Well, I tried to add some more space!  
To the guest who requested it, let me know if it's not enough :33  
Sorry about all the time between chapters, last year was a little rough for me.  
(Not to mention the acquisition of a job, so far less free time for me.)**

 **As always, reviews are welcomed! (And any questions posed I am happy to answer :33)**


	19. An Apology, and an explanation

Hey y'all;  
This isn't a chapter, just an explanation.  
I'm really, really sorry about all the time in between chapters, the inconsistent uploads, and the unfinished story.  
I'm not going to go into much detail about what happened, but basically I had a bad fallout with someone I was very close to, and I associated this story (and several other things) with them.  
Lot of bad memories get stirred up everytime I look at this story :/  
So, I won't be continuing this anymore.  
HOWEVER.  
If one of you would like to keep this going, just send me a message! I'll take this down, send you the dox and my notes, and you can continue it.

Again, my apologize about this. It was never my intention to stop this story 3:  
I had a lot of fun doing it, and I really, really loved all of your notes.  
Sincerely - Millie.


End file.
